House of the Setting Sun 10: Demon in Red
by BattleKitten
Summary: Tis the season, whatever that means. The Scoobies spend the holidays trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, Boudenver is in the festive spirit 'cause Santa Claus is coming to town.
1. Teaser

Finally, after a much longer delay than I'd planned, here's the beginning of the next episode.

* * *

House of the Setting Sun 10:

Demon in Red

_Teaser_

It was too chilly to be standing around outside. Buffy pulled her jacket sleeves down over her hands and stamped her feet vigorously. People in town were saying it was _too cold _for snow. How could it be too cold for snow? Wasn't snow what happened when it got cold? She stamped her feet again and tried to look over Faith's shoulder.

"Quit crowding me."

"I'm not crowding you! I'm just osmosing your body heat."

Faith laughed. "It's not that cold."

"It is that cold. Did you _see_ the weather forecast? It's minus-six! That's six less than what it takes to freeze to death!"

"Poor little So-Cal Buffy," there was still a chuckle in Faith's voice. "You don't have to stay out here if you don't want."

Buffy tried to get control of her shivers. "No, we agreed an hour each way every day. This is your hour. I can handle it."

"I'll be happy to take my hour tonight; say after patrol in my room?"

"No this is better."

Faith looked over her shoulder.

"Not better as in better," Buffy said quickly. "Just better as in, yunno, safer."

"What do you feel ya gotta be safe from, B?" Faith bent back under the hood of the truck. "'Cause I've been a fricken saint as far as touching you goes."

"I know." And Buffy knew Faith was being really patient, but her tone alone was a valid reason for not spending time in her room after she'd been slaying. She was obviously on the edge of pushing things further and Buffy still wasn't ready. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me; just pass me the socket wrench."

"The sock wench?" Buffy squatted to look through the tool box but was clueless. All of the metal instruments looked the same and… sock wench? What kind of stupid name was that anyway? Nothing in the box looked like a sock.

"Sock_et_ wrench!" Faith stooped down and found what she wanted immediately. She showed it to Buffy before standing up. "I think I need to loosen some bolts."

Buffy straightened up with her. "Be honest, do you even know what you're doing?"

Faith shrugged. "I know more than Xander. I ran with this guy who was a mechanic for a while. Used to enjoy watching him fix up cars."

Buffy nodded, she could relate. Despite the freezing temperatures she was enjoying watching Faith get all oily as she worked around in the truck's brain. Right now she was working on something that made the curves of her biceps visible even under her light jacket. It was enough to make Buffy step even closer, and maybe she didn't need to be so safe. The thought of those arms around her, or either side of her, holding Faith up as she…

Unhelpful thoughts! Thoughts that would lead her down a path to. . .greatness, possibly? What was really so wrong with that? Okay, so maybe she was more ready that she had realised but she still wanted to wait for the right time, the right moment. Planning to meet Faith in her room later wasn't spontaneous or romantic and she wanted, well, greatness to lead to the greatness.

"Can you pass me the valve lapper?"

"Excuse me?"

"It looks like a metal stick with rubber cups at each end," Faith said, clearly exasperated.

"Oh." Buffy squatted down. "Not seeing anything like that."

Faith looked over her shoulder. "It's there! Right next to the scissors. They're those blue handled things with the two blades that you can press together to cut things."

Biting her tongue Buffy picked up what she assumed must be the valve lappy thing.

"Thank you," Faith said sarcastically as she took it. Unaware that she had just taken a major step back from the possibility of having sex that month.

Buffy watched her work silently for a moment, talking herself down from the angry place.

"So, date night tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow's not good. Xander's got a shipment of insulating tiles coming in from the West Coast and the sooner they're in the dorms…"

"You're putting tiles before our date?"

"What date? Not like we'd planned anything yet."

"Yeah, but…"

"And yeah, stopping the girls from freezing their asses off comes before dancing to Bette Midler and Celine Dion and _not_ getting to do more than peck your cheek at midnight. Damn, this thing is stuck like a bitch!" Faith complained, her suddenly very unattractive biceps standing out harder than ever. "Can you hand me the rubber mallet? It's the thing shaped like a mallet and made of rubber."

Buffy had already found it and was holding it raised above Faith's head.

* * *

Kennedy sat a few feet away from Willow on the bedroom carpet, watching a pencil float languidly in the air between them.

She had been back from her ten day break in New York for a little over two weeks and, so far, re-entry had been going well. She and Willow had been getting on okay. They hadn't made any great advances on renewing their relationship, but time was being spent together and no _new _arguments had surfaced.

The pencil went up a few feet in the air and then it came down again to settle between their line of sight.

Kennedy lay down, propping her head and shoulders against the bottom of the bed.

"Is this boring you?" Willow asked, the pencil bobbing anxiously between them.

"No!" Kennedy chuckled reassuringly. "Call me a voyeur but this is nice; relaxing, you know?"

The pencil stabilised in the air.

"Obviously magic is about more than floating writing utensils, but it's important that I keep focusing on the basics," Willow spoke as if she was trying to convince _herself_ that she wasn't boring. Like that could ever be possible.

"I get it; it's like when I run drills with the girls. Sure, punching and kicking empty air looks lame, but without that foundation where would we be in the field?"

"Exactly!" Willow nodded. "But do you want to see something else?"

"Like what?" Kennedy wasn't really that bothered, magick wasn't her thing. She was only here now because it was time spent close to Willow.

"Hand me that boot and…and the Orb of Thessula."

Kennedy already had the boot in her hand but now she looked around clueless. "The what?"

"That round thing on my desk. It's for conjuring lost souls. I like to keep one handy." Willow re-settled herself with crossed legs as she took the boot. "But it's also good for stopping my thesis from flying around the room when I open the window."

Kennedy got to her knees and picked up the unremarkable glass globe. It didn't look any more magical than her left pinkie. She handed it over as she slumped back into her previously lounged position against the bed.

"Are you going to conjure the boot's lost sole? 'Cause I think you'll find it's still attached to the bottom."

Willow smirked and then the boot, the pencil and the Orb of Thessula started to rotate in the air as if she was juggling with her mind.

Kennedy smirked in return. "Impressive, but what would happen if I threw a chain saw into the mix?"

"Hopefully nothing bad, but possibly carnage. There's a reason I'm still practising this stuff."

Kennedy nodded once. "We won't try that yet then."

"So what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I don't know, patrol. Why?"

Willow caught the items in the air one after the other and set them aside. "Well, Saturday night, official date night and all…"

Kennedy sat up straight again. "I have to take the kids into Cleveland. Giles has finally realised there's nothing around here worth training them on, so…"

"But Miranda and Cici? Don't they have the basics by now? They could go with Reece and Naomi and you could do something else."

Kennedy felt bad, but not that bad. She'd asked Willow out last week but the witch had been pre-occupied with a web-conference with Althenea. So, yeah, she could blow off patrol, but one-sided commitment wasn't the proactive solution she wanted for their relationship.

"There's the new girl, Rebecca, to think of, and that Watcher exchange student. If I let Ishmael go out with Reece and the girls alone he's going come back traumatised; and he's too promising to screw up."

"I understand," Willow said quietly, packing up her practise-apparatus.

Kennedy felt like an ass. "Maybe one day in the week we could do something?"

"Maybe."

Kennedy slumped again and closed her eyes. She couldn't do right for doing right.

* * *

The shop was crowded with high school and college girls looking for that special outfit and Faith was not enjoying herself. She wouldn't wear a damn thing in here unless she was paid, and even then she would have to be paid a _lot_!

"What about this?" Buffy held up a blood red dress with thin straps and a full skirt.

"It would look good on you." That had been her standard response for half an hour.

"I have_ my_ dress!" That had been Buffy's standard response for the same amount of time. She pointed over her shoulder to the elegant pale blue dress that Dawn was guarding with her life along with her own; as if Faith had had a chance to forget it was there. "There's just you to buy for now."

"Still not getting why I need a dress," Faith huffed as she flicked through racks of boring-ass evening gowns. "You know it's not my style."

"And normally I love your style..."

Faith turned to her, not able to help the warm smile on her face. "You do, huh?"

She wasn't all that sure why she felt the need to try and fight the smile all the time, or any of the other happier emotions that came with being Buffy's girlfriend, but she did try and fight them all the same. Maybe she just wasn't used to them.

"Yes. You and leather pants?" Buffy made a mock growling sound and for once broke their 'no-touching-out-of-town' rule to drag her fingers down Faith's stomach to the top of her jeans. "Edible. But we're going to a Christmas Ball, Faith. You have to wear something pretty."

"We're going to Boudenver's Christmas Ball, at Barnies," Faith reminded her. "Other than you, the best dressed chick there is going to be wearing a denim skirt and a straw hat!"

"Hey!" Dawn griped from behind them.

Faith ignored her. "Long as you look phenomenal, what does it matter what I wear."

"You're going to be on my arm," Buffy explained with strained patience.

"Huh?" What the hell did that mean anyway? "So I'll keep my distance if it helps."

"God, you're insufferable!" Buffy marched off to the other side of the store.

"Yeah, heard that before," she drawled, watching her go.

"Then maybe you should try working on it," Dawn said before flouncing off after her sister with their dresses trailing over her shoulder.

* * *

"What about this one?" Willow held another dress up against her body.

"It's nice."

How was she supposed to decide when Kennedy said 'It's nice' to every dress she picked out? She fumbled through the racks for a minute before picking out another one.

"It's ni..."

"It's a ruffley, neon green monstrosity!" Willow gestured with the dress violently. "How could it look nice?"

Kennedy caught her wrists around the waving dress. "You look good in green." With a smile she nodded at the pile of discarded dresses. "You also looked good in the blue, the black, the silver, not so much in the amber, but the pale yellow taffeta worked a treat and so did the short, lacy lilac number…" Kennedy's eyebrows jumped a few times.

Willow smiled bashfully. "But you said they all looked nice."

"That's because I want you to wear what you think is nice."

"But I want to look nice _for _you."

"And you will. Even if you go for the amber, I'll still be the best dressed girl there."

Willow's nose scrunched up. "How do you figure?"

"Because you'll be on my arm."

Smiling, Willow leaned in to kiss her but was interrupted by Buffy storming over to them, catching the tail end of their conversation.

"God, I wish I had your girlfriend!" Willow looked at her sharply and Buffy held her hands up. "Not literally, obviously."

Willow gave her a firm 'that's-okay-then' nod and turned back to Kennedy. "So the lacy lilac?"

As Kennedy grinned excitedly, Willow finally got around to kissing her, not caring that Buffy was standing next to them uncomfortably in the over-crowded store.

* * *

"Are we sure it's legal to just cut down trees?" Buffy asked nervously, not that she was going to stop decorating the beautiful fir if someone said it was, she just wanted to be prepared for when the feds knocked on the door.

"It was on our land," Kennedy reassured her, invisible to Buffy on the other side of the thick, green branches.

"Yeah, Xan cut it down this morning. Shoulda seen him out there in the woods, wielding that chain saw with his shirt off." Faith got a sudden faraway look in her eyes that she blinked out of fast. "Not that his shirt makes any difference or whatever."

Buffy smirked at her. "You got a little crush?"

Smirking back, Faith shrugged. "Maybe. Jealous?"

"Maybe," Buffy returned playfully, but then her eyes narrowed. "Should I be?"

Faith laughed. "No way, babe. Just, you gotta appreciate a dude with a chainsaw, you know? It's like…a rule."

"So you're saying Leatherface is your ideal man?" Kennedy asked, laughing at her.

"Hey, why not, least the boy does as he's told," Faith laughed along.

"And you'd never go hungry."

"Dude! And I thought I was sick."

As the two bantered and bickered on, Buffy rolled her eyes, grinning at Willow.

"We're dating children."

"I've noticed. You gotta admit this hard labour's making Xander all buff again, though," Willow said with a twinkle in her eye.

Buffy hadn't really noticed; the only person she found her gaze lingering on these days was Faith. She'd have felt bad and neglect-y if she wasn't sure of herself in other areas of Xander's personal growth.

"Maybe next time I throw tennis balls at him I'll make him take his shirt off first."

"How's he doing?"

"Eight out of ten yesterday. I wanna try a night session though. If he really wants to get back out there with us on patrol eventually, he's gotta get used to things flying at him in the dark too."

"Maybe wait until he's on ten out of ten," Willow said, almost falling into the thick fir as she tried to put an ornament too high.

Buffy pulled her back from toppling the tree onto Faith and Kennedy. "That's what Giles said, but I can tell Xander's getting frustrated with what he thinks should be simple. Maybe more of a challenge will keep his enthusiasm solid."

"Told me the other day he finally gave G a go ahead on the therapy."

"He did?" Willow looked hurt. "Why didn't he tell us?"

Buffy didn't realise she was being spoken to at first because she was too busy thinking how adorable Faith looked hanging shiny baubles on the tree.

"Huh? What? Oh, well she works with him all day. It probably just came up in conversation, right Faith?" Buffy waggled her eyebrows at her lover – could you call someone a lover if you weren't actually having sex? – to get the message to agree across.

Although Faith was looking at her, she didn't get it at all. "Not really. I asked him."

"I should have asked him," Willow said dejectedly.

"Probably." The subtle hint might have passed Faith by but she read the death glare just fine. "But, you know, Red, I'm seeing a shrink too so it's easier for me to bring it up."

"How's it going for you?" Kennedy asked, showing a rare flash of interest in Faith's well-being. Or maybe she was just nosy.

Faith shrugged. "It's going. Nothing I ain't done before."

"But it's different this time, right?" Buffy asked hopefully. "I mean, its really helping?"

"It helped before, not that I let anyone know it." Faith met her eyes. "But this time is definitely gonna be different, starting next week."

Even as Faith's smile boosted Buffy's mood, her heart sank at what she meant. Next Monday was going to be the first session she attended with Faith. Four days before Christmas. She had tried to subtly suggest wouldn't it be better to leave it until January, but again Faith had been immune to her subtleness. Buffy knew this was necessary for Faith and possibly vital for their slowly growing relationship, but all she could think of was how it was marring her holiday spirit. Selfish, sure, but she wanted to enjoy her first proper Christmas with Faith, not spend the run up to it panicking about seeing a therapist.

"Why?" Kennedy asked.

"You don't know?" Willow sounded surprised. "Buffy has to go with Faith next week."

"I don't tell Kenny as much as you, Will," Buffy said with a smile, although on the inside she was a little surprised herself that she hadn't told the younger slayer.

Since Kennedy's return from vacation Buffy had continued to act as a kind of personal trainer, but by some unspoken agreement they had distanced themselves for the benefit of their relationships – with Willow. It was ridiculous and unnecessary, but you do what you have to do.

Kennedy pulled apart some branches to see her now. "And you're cool with that?"

"Sure."

Apparently she wasn't that convincing because Faith gave her a worried look. "You don't have to, ya know? If it's too weird for you, I got this."

"I'm fine, looking forward to it," she lied. When Faith still looked sceptical, she added. "I have seen a therapist before, you know."

"You have?"

"When you were in the mental institution?" Willow asked, with the non-sympathy that came with friends who knew you too well.

"You were in a nut house?" Faith looked shocked.

"I-ah, um…"

"Why didn't you fricken tell me?"

"It was only for a couple of weeks." Buffy was getting really annoyed at the way Faith was staring at her. "Why, does it make a difference? Does prison-girl have a problem with me spending a very short amount of time in a psych. institute?"

"No of course not! But you knew I was in prison, B. And you know a lot more besides that now too. You're so big on talking and sharing all, that I've been spilling my guts like an offshore oil rig. When were you going to tell me that, huh?"

"It was before I met you. It's not relevant!"

"Relevance ain't got shit to do with it, and you know that!"

They glared at each other for a moment but when it was clear Buffy didn't have a leg to stand on Faith thrust her length of red tinsel into Kennedy's hands and stormed from the room.

"Sorry," Willow muttered.

Still staring after Faith's hasty departure, Buffy waved her hand to indicate no apology was necessary. "Relationships suck, this isn't news."

She was distracted by the sound of laughing beside her. Kennedy was lifting Willow up so she could place the star on top of the tree and they were both giggling like loved up kids.

"Okay," Buffy sighed. "_My_ relationships suck; still not news."

* * *

Kennedy held a stack of brightly coloured boxes as high as her nose. "Just because I'm a slayer doesn't mean you can use me like pack horse."

Willow slapped her ass lightly as she walked past. "Giddy-up, Gee Gee."

Kennedy followed her to the next store grumpily. "You do realise over-worked horses have a tendency to kick and bite?"

"And a few years ago that would have terrified me, but now I carry sugar lumps." Willow's arm slid around her waist and a discreet kiss was placed just below Kennedy's ear. "Do you like my sugar?"

Kennedy laughed, relaxing a whole lot. "I love your sugar." She was about to let her horse analogy go until something occurred to her. "What did you mean when you said it would have terrified you a while ago? Did someone hurt you?"

She was thinking Oz, and she knew she shouldn't, but as much as she was trying to put that part of Willow's past – and their present – behind her, she couldn't seem to help thinking the worst of him.

"No, I was just scared of horses," Willow said with a chuckle.

"Oh." Kennedy rolled her eyes at her rapid jump to assumptions. "But you're not now?"

"I still don't trust 'em, but Tara forced me to meet a few, we even went riding a couple of times, and now I don't think they're the spawn of Satan anymore."

"Oh." Kennedy said again. Tara, of course. If it wasn't Oz it was Tara. She wasn't going to let on to what she was thinking, but then she remembered Buffy and Faith's argument the day before, about keeping secrets. "That bothers me."

They'd entered a second hand bookshop and Willow was looking for something for Giles, so she asked distractedly, "What? Why?"

"The Tara thing."

"What Tara thing?"

Kennedy wasn't sure what to say now. She didn't want to upset Willow or provoke an unnecessary argument but she'd started so she had to say something. It annoyed her that Willow didn't automatically get why it would just generally bother her.

She decided to play it safe and go with vague honesty. "The thing where she was so much a part of your life that she still seeps naturally into our conversations."

"I can't help that," Willow said tightly.

"I know. I'm just saying it bothers me."

Willow turned to her, a heavy book in each hand and Kennedy had a feeling she was about to box her around the ears with them.

"Would you prefer me to never mention her?"

"No! Willow…" Kennedy put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want you to feel you can't talk about her. I'm just… apparently I have this big, fat jealous streak I never knew about until I met you and I'm just trying to be honest – calmly and rationally with no fighting or shouting or breaking up – about it."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Maybe we should talk about it later."

Willow shook her head. "Maybe we should talk about it now."

Kennedy sighed. "Pay for your books first and then I'll buy you a soda."

Willow frowned, "Why?"

"Well, we won't ruin the library hush in here for one, but mostly I'm thirsty."

Willow almost smiled. "Just give me a minute."

Kennedy waited by the door, it wasn't like she could do a lot of browsing anyway with her arms full of gift boxes and she wanted to take the time to formulate her thoughts on why Tara – dead as she was and no threat – still troubled her.

Fifteen minutes later they were sat on the fake wall around the edge of the food court, sipping cokes and opening take out burger cartons.

"Why did you order a veggie burger?"

Willow looked behind her at the open front of the Doublemeat Palace before saying, "I like to know that what it says is what I'm getting."

Kennedy frowned at the cryptic comment and bit into her Medley burger.

"So, Tara…"

"I'm Kennedy," she said with her mouth full. Willow looked about to get pissed so she quickly added. "I'm kidding!" She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the way the partially chewed bun stuck in her oesophagus. "Look, what I said is no big deal okay, so chill."

"So what's the small deal?" Willow finally started her burger, obviously expecting Kennedy to carry the conversation for a while.

She shrugged and picked up a crinkled fry. "You shared so much with Tara. Horses, magic, a home, hell you came out with her! Those are all really big life things, okay maybe not the horses. It just makes me wonder what I have to offer in the way of new experiences."

"You came out years before you met me, and I'm not jealous," Willow said between bites.

"But I never fell in love until I met you. You've done that twice."

"I never dated a Slayer until I met you."

"Okay, you know that's a lame comparison, right?" Kennedy asked, chuckling softly.

"Yeah," Willow admitted sheepishly. "But there are tons of new and exciting firsts we can have together."

"Like what?"

"Well…" Willow ate a few fries while she thought about it. "I've never taken a trip with a girlfriend before; we could do Disney Land or Las Vegas together. Or there's my frog fear, way worse than my horse fears ever were, you could cure me of that, but no because that might mean me having to touch an actual frog and I don't think I could really do that. Not when they're all green and. . ."

"What about the Hamptons?" Kennedy interrupted Willow's frog-babble before it could turn nasty. "Have you ever been there?"

Willow shook her head.

"So would you still be interested in coming to meet my parents for Christmas?"

Willow smiled. "I didn't think you would want me to now."

"I do."

"Then, yes please."

Kennedy grinned as she bit another chunk from her burger.

* * *

"Tape."

Faith bit off another length of scotch tape and handed it over. "Can't we do this later?"

"You can, but you'll be wrapping your presents on your own because I want to do mine now."

Faith sighed. "Nah, fairs fair, it was your turn to choose what we did for an hour." She sighed again and gave Buffy her best puppy dog eyes. "It's just when you invited me up to your room I thought we'd be doing something else, yunno?"

Buffy laughed, "Sorry, but I want to get these wrapped so I can put them under the tree tonight. Besides, doesn't it get you excited?"

"You asking me up to your room? Yeah, that was my point."

Buffy threw a metallic gold pen at her but she was still smiling. "I meant the presents!"

Faith looked around at the gifts scattered all over the floor. "Why would it? None of them are for us."

"It's the holiday spirit; all the shiny wrapping paper and the smell of glitter and gold pen in the air!"

Faith pushed her bare toe into a loose corner of paper on a present for Xander. Even though she knew what it was, she toyed with trying to rip it open until Buffy slapped her foot away.

"Guess I lost that a while ago."

Buffy glanced at her sympathetically until Faith glared at her and then she went back to making sure the paper edges on Dawn's gift were perfectly symmetrical.

"Why's this stuff so important to you anyway?"

Buffy looked at her like she was stupid. "It's Christmas!" Then she relented and actually explained. "I haven't had a proper one since my Mom died. We tried the first year but Willow wasn't well and Tara didn't feel she could come over, Dawn was secretly being a Klepto, Xander and Anya were more interested in their wedding plans because of, oh I don't know, something or other, and Giles was in England. Last year we had Potentials arriving and everything was a nightmare because of the First. I guess I was just hoping this year could be special, yunno, because all of the people I love are going to be together again. Tape."

As Faith was biting off another piece Buffy's alarm clock caught her eye. "Shit! I gotta…Shit!" she said again as she had to rip a piece of tape painfully from her lip. "That truck of cross beams is arriving _right_ now."

"But you've only been here twenty minutes!" Buffy pointed out unhappily.

"What do you want me to say? I gotta jet, babe. See ya later, yeah?"

She planted a kiss on the top of Buffy's head as she scrambled to her feet. She caught Buffy's murderous look but what could she do about it? This was work and it wasn't often Xander trusted her to take big deliveries like this. She wasn't going to screw it up by missing the guy because she was wrapping presents with her girlfriend. Especially now she knew it wasn't a euphemism for something dirty.

She'd make it up to Buffy later, she decided, as her bare feet slapped down the back stairs, do something special and Christmassy.

* * *

It was Sunday night, which meant Kennedy wasn't for once rostered to go on patrol. Willow still admired Kennedy's dedication to her slayer duties but it felt like since her return from New York, her ex had been using them as a reason to not spend the night together. Willow had said she could move back into their bedroom anytime, but Kennedy seemed to have suddenly decided she liked living in the dorm with the other resident slayers because she wasn't budging.

Well, that was gonna change. Willow had planned a special evening for the two of them in the bedroom. She had low lighting, some snacks to nibble on and a bottle of wine to open a little later and Melissa Etheredge playing softly on the stereo. It was perfect and maybe Kennedy still wouldn't want to stay the night, but at least she would get a reminder of why staying the night sometime soon was a good idea.

"So why are we sitting in candlelight?" Kennedy asked, sitting cross legged at the other end of the bed. "Are you going to practise more magick?"

"No, I just thought it would be… romantic," she smiled and edged closer along the comforter.

Kennedy didn't seem to notice. "I suppose it could be romantic, but I thought we were just going to hang out."

"We can't hang out romantically?" Willow shortened the distance between them by another few inches.

Kennedy shrugged, "Could that include playing cards?"

"Strip poker," she asked hopefully.

"Go fish."

Willow sighed, "I already am."

"Huh?"

"Not to sound like a fifteen year old boy, but, well, you're kinda _making_ me feel like a fifteen year old boy here, Kenny."

"Huh?"

"You know, trying to subtly entice my girlfriend to make out with me without sounding too horny so she runs a mile before I can get my kissage on."

"Oh." Kennedy laughed. "Do fifteen year old boys use candles?"

"The sensitive ones do… probably."

"And the really desperate ones."

"Can I be both?" Willow couldn't fail to notice that they still weren't making out. Kennedy started to move off of the bed. "Where are you going?"

"Well if you really want that teenage boy experience we should probably make out on the couch in front of the TV."

"But…but…it's more private up here and…and _sexy_," she finished in a seductive whisper.

Kennedy, already standing, looked at her for a long, quiet moment and then at the bed itself. Her eyes grazed the many lit candles and then took a trip to the carpet before she looked up at Willow again.

"There's this programme on soccer I kind of wanted to watch. If I'd known this was… this, I'd have called dibs on the video recorder, but now Giles is taping some documentary on BBC America and, well, you know."

Willow did know. Dawn still hadn't been fully forgiven for switching the video from recording an _Only Fools and Horses_ marathon to an episode of _Charmed _over a month ago. They'd rowed about it for hours.

Willow's eyes narrowed though as she thought about Kennedy's viewing choice. "A programme about soccer?" Kennedy looked shifty, confirming her fears. "You want to pass up alone time with me to watch a soccer match!"

"Giles is out on patrol and Xander's at Barnies so It'll still just be you and me. I promise to make out with you all through half-time," she wheedled.

Willow harrumphed as she pushed herself off of the bed and started blowing out candles. "I want kisses every time there's a…a touch-down too or one of the, uh, penalty pass thingies."

"Penalty pass?" Kennedy frowned and then took Willow's hand determinedly. "Come on, it's obviously about time you learned how awesome soccer is."

"Yay," Willow muttered dejectedly as Kennedy led her from the room, already explaining that you got goals not touch-downs. "That's exactly what I wanted to do tonight."

* * *

Faith _had_ gone out on patrol that night – just for a quick sweep of the town with Alison – so Buffy wasn't surprised when there was a knock on her door just after ten.

She was still pissed off with the way Faith had run off from their 'together time' earlier though. She got that Faith had to work and she totally understood that she couldn't not go and meet the delivery man, but she could have come back after, or at least been there at dinner instead of taking a plate out to the garage so she could work some more on the truck.

So she called out, "Just give me a minute," before taking her time to finish wrapping Faith's present.

"I kinda need you to let me in right now," Faith called back.

Oh yeah, Faith was all about urgency when she wanted to spend time together, but when _Buffy_ wanted to… "You'll have to hang on, I'm not decent."

She applied the last strip of tape lovingly to the gift and slowly smoothed it down.

"I'll keep my eyes closed!"

Buffy looked up in surprise at the very un-Faith-like reply. "What's wrong?"

"Just open the door."

She quickly pushed the present under her bed and threw a sweater over it. "Just come in."

"I can't! Open the fricken door. Hurry!"

Buffy quickly stood and crossed to the door, worried now. "What's up? Oh!"

"Merry Christmas!" Faith smiled nervously. Buffy couldn't help herself and burst out laughing. "Hey!"

"I'm sorry, but…"

Faith was covered from ankles to chin in bright, festive gift wrapping. Only her feet, face and forearms were bare. She was wearing a red Santa hat too, with a fuzzy little white bobble on the tip.

"…it's just…" Buffy had to lean over and clutch the door frame. "…a few months ago you complained about wearing pajamas with elephants on them and now…and now! You're wearing paper covered in cute little snowmen riding reindeer!"

"Yeah I get the irony," Faith said through clenched teeth. "Now let me in!"

She waved her past the threshold. Faith waddled in like a penguin, only able to move her feet an inch or so at a time without ripping the paper. It set Buffy off again and she had to lean on the door as she pushed it shut, trying to get her ribs and lungs to stop spasming with the hysterics.

"What happened? Did you get attacked by the Ghost of Christmas Presents on patrol?" Buffy asked, still giggling. "Or, don't tell me, the baby slayers jumped you, didn't they? I did tell you to be a little nicer to them."

"I did it," Faith muttered.

"What?"

"I did it! For you! I thought you'd get a kick out of it," Faith said grumpily.

Buffy pointed at her own face as she slid down the door, helpless all over again. "Mission accomplished!" she wheezed.

"Not quite the kick I was looking for," Faith admitted as she awkwardly perched on the edge of the bed. There was a loud sound of ripping paper. "Shit, I think my ass just split!"

"Oh God!" Buffy crumpled over on her side, body shaking as she howled with laughter. "I think you broke me!"

Faith waited patiently for her to calm down – she was waiting awhile. "I felt bad about earlier; this is me making it up to you."

Buffy was still lying on her side on the floor but giggles were only bubbling up at random intervals now as she gazed up at Faith.

"Don't get me wrong, I _really _appreciate all the effort you put in, but you could have just said sorry."

"Now you tell me." Faith finally smiled again. "But you like it, right?"

"I do. No one's ever even worn a bow for me before, let alone gone this far."

They looked at each other in almost comfortable silence for a minute or two. After her fit of laughing Buffy felt relaxed enough to melt through the floor anyway and Faith couldn't have looked less physically comfortable but she seemed happy enough to sit there smiling at her. Until, that was, she started to pull funny faces. Buffy ignored them at first, until Faith's face was contorting so weirdly it looked like demon bugs were crawling around under her skin.

"What's wrong?"

"My nose is itching."

"So scratch it."

Faith flapped her forearms uselessly, much like a penguin again.

Buffy fought the urge to dissolve back into giggles and dragged herself to her feet. "You didn't really think this through, did you?"

"Do I ever?"

Buffy gently rubbed the tip of her nose with the back of her knuckles. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks. Could you get my ear too?" Buffy started to rub her left ear. "No, the other one."

Buffy switched ears. "You know, I've seen you now, you could take the paper off. Or rip out of it, Hulk-style." She went a little dreamy as she imagined Faith doing that.

"It's your present, you have to unwrap me."

Buffy smiled until she saw the hopeful glint in Faith's eyes. She took a wary step back. "Please tell me you're not naked under there."

"I'm not naked under here."

"I don't believe you."

Faith smirked. "Guess you'll have to rip the paper off to find out which one of us is right."

"Faith!" Buffy slapped her shoulder. "I'm not unwrapping you."

"That's a bit ungrateful, B, don't you think? I went to all this trouble; least you can do is open your gift."

Buffy sighed playfully. Well I don't want to be rude." Faith's whole face lit up. "But it isn't Christmas yet, so I probably shouldn't. Think you can go wait under the tree until next Saturday?"

Faith tried to punch her but with the limited movement couldn't reach. "You're killing me here, B, seriously."

Buffy looked her up and down, smiling, feeling really touched by Faith's behaviour. She would never have expected the tough, often thoughtless slayer to think of something so sweet, and would never have pegged her as having the stones to carry out such a blatantly corny gesture even if she did.

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to have a feel. See if I can guess what's inside."

She stepped closer, hands running up from Faith's elbows and over her shoulders. The smooth paper rustled under her touch, making her smile. Faith tilted her head back invitingly and Buffy dropped a kiss onto her lips and then another.

"You can't just feel along the sides, babe," Faith was smirking between small kisses. "Gotta give your gift a proper manhandling if you wanna figure out what it is."

"I'm building the anticipation," she murmured, teasing her fingers along an edge of paper running down the centre of Faith's chest, deliberately ignoring her festive boobs. Even through the wrapping you could have hung tree ornaments on her nipples. "Now, shhh, before you give away the surprise."

"What surprise?"

Grinning, Buffy pushed her back down on the bed, not quite roughly enough to rip any of the paper, and hopped up to straddle her hips. "This one."

* * *

Joshua Warders kicked the toe of his little boot into the snow. They were standing in a clearing near the resort's main lodge, drinking hot cocoa with a bunch of other guests and he'd finished his already. He was bored! He wasn't old enough to ski, his big sister kept pushing him off the snowboard they were _supposed _to be sharing, and every time he asked when they were going to see Santa his lame parents just said _later. _

It was later! It was gonna be dark soon and you didn't get much later than that. At least he didn't. He was aware that grown ups had a whole 'nother level of later that went on way past his bedtime but if they didn't go and see Santa right nowhe'd have to wait for _tomorrow_ and that was ages away.

"Come on!" he begged, jumping up and down to prove how serious he was.

"Be good, Josh." His mother caught him by the puffy hood of his quilted coat to keep him still before running her hand gently over his tousled blonde head. "Or we won't go and see Santa."

He stared up at his mother with big, dismayed brown eyes. Surely she couldn't mean that!

His sister, who was three years older than him and thought she was so smart, stuck her tongue out and said, "Santa isn't really anyway."

"Angela!" Their father warned.

"But it's true! Kathy's sister told us and she's in Junior High!"

As both parents told Angie off for having a big mouth, Joshua wandered away from the group to sulk. It probably wasn't even true! Angie was just mean and everyone knew Kathy was just a…a stupid-head so her sister probably was too. She probably wouldn't even believe in Santa if he bit her on the butt.

That made him giggle, which made him feel better and look up. Whoops, he'd walked further than he'd meant to, right out of the clearing without even realising it. He was surrounded by tall Christmas trees, making it unnaturally dark from his perspective. It gave his scalp pins and needles and, hearing his Dad calling him, he turned to run back to family.

Before he could get going someone ran in front of him, cutting him off, before disappearing behind a holly bush to his right. They had moved so fast – roadrunner fast – that Joshua just stopped and stared at the spare where they had been for a second.

Recovering his sharp, seven year old wits, he realised it had to be Angie. She'd probably been sent to find him and was trying to scare him instead. Deciding to turn the tables on her he tiptoed up to the bush where she was hiding…and nearly peed his pants when something entirely different popped out from behind the prickly green bush.

"Hello, little boy."

"H-hi?" After his initial fright Joshua was distracted by leaning to one side, gawping at a really pointy ear. "Wow. You're an…"

"Do you want to meet Santa Claus, little boy?"

That got his attention back and he hollered excitedly, "I knew he was real!"

"Of course, he is very much real, and if you would just come this way…"

Joshua thought for a moment, he even went 'Hmm' like his dad did when he had to make a decision, and looked back to the group of grown ups enjoying cocoa. He knew he probably shouldn't go alone – he wasn't supposed to do anything alone, it was lame – but they'd all done what they wanted to do already and weren't they here to see Santa anyway? This might be the only way to avoid having to wait until tomorrow.

"Okay," he finally agreed. "But I can't if the line is really long cos my Mom will get mad."

"Oh, we promise to get you in to see Santa Claus very quick, little boy. He knows you are, hee hee, dying to meet him."

Joshua was taken by the hand and suddenly he was running really fast. Any second he expected to take off and fly like the little boy holding the Snowman's hand in that cartoon, but they didn't. They ran over the snow, through the trees, into the growing darkness that glowed thanks to the shiny, white ground.

He looked around in wonder when they entered the grotto. It was even better than the picture in the brochure! Joshua walked slowly forward, trying to see all the toys at once, but was propelled faster by a bony hand on each shoulder straight through the gap in the red velvet curtain.

"Santa, we bring a little boy for you."

"How nice."

Joshua's eyes went big at the deep, rumbly voice and he looked the owner of it up and down warily. Santa Claus didn't look the same as he did on TV. Still, he didn't want to be rude so he gamely went and climbed up onto his lap.

"I'd really like a Playstation 2, please, and some games. You can get one at Wal-Mart if your elves don't know how to make them."

"Can I indeed."

"Yes please, but if that's too much then I'll settle for a new basketball 'cause Angie, my stupid sister, burst mine on the neighbour's dog's."

Santa was helping to balance Joshua on this thigh with one big hand while he held a long piece of paper in his other – it had two lists of names on it.

"That wasn't very good of her. Perhaps you think she shouldn't receive any gifts this year as punishment?"

Joshua thought about it but then sighed. "Nah. She really wants a new bike, a pink one, and she'll just feel bad and be even meaner if she doesn't get it."

"There you are, of course, in the nice column." Santa Claus chuckled as he ticked off the name Joshua Warders from his list and then beamed down at him.

Joshua gave him a beautiful, excited smile in return, "So does that mean I've been good enough to get the Playstation?"

"I really wish it did, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like that."

"So how does it work?"

"Like this."

Santa Claus's mouth opened impossibly wide and before Joshua even had time to guess his fate he had been bitten not so cleanly in half. Blood splattered as Santa chewed and he brushed some spots from his thick, velvet robes.

"It's just as well I look so good in red, don't you think, it saves us a fortune on dry cleaning."

* * *

Thanks for reading :) Act one coming soon.


	2. Act 1:1

Wow, really really long gap between updates! Sorry about that. And this bit probably isn't long enough to justify it either but, hey, its better than nothing right :) (I'm also behind on reply to reviews/feedback but I'll catch up soon as I can, promise)

* * *

Act one 

The kitchen was crowded when Faith finally braved going downstairs the next morning. That wasn't unusual. Only at breakfast was pretty much every Slayer, Watcher, Watcher-wannabe, Witch, family member and hanger-on in the same room at the more or less the same time. It was why Giles normally called meetings for immediately after breakfast, so no one had a chance to wriggle out of them – and the only reason why Faith was always happy to start work early.

She could see she was going to have trouble making a quick escape today though. Miranda and Cici were hogging the toaster to make a mountain of pop tarts and Craig was just using up the last of the coffee pouring himself and Andrew a cup each.

Faith hovered by the stairs, half listening to Alison talk to her about the training schedule and watching as Buffy buttered herself a couple of rounds of toast. Buffy hadn't noticed her yet, she still had time to slink out, but she was as hungry as everyone else and she knew these vultures well now. If she waited and came back later to eat, there would be nothing left but crumbs and grease smears.

Talking of greasy food, Alison was munching through a strip of crispy bacon and there were more rashers held loose in her hand.

Interrupting her, Faith nodded to them, "Give me those, Ali."

Alison stopped mid-crunch, surprised by the direct order. "There's plenty on the counter," she mumbled around her mouthful.

"Then ya can grab yourself some more, can't you." Faith made a 'give-them-here' gesture with her hand.

Alison reluctantly handed over her breakfast to her superior and strutted off indignantly. Obviously she didn't want to talk to Faith so much anymore, which saved her the bother of pretending to listen.

She devoured the three strips of bacon quickly. Buffy still wasn't aware of her presence. That seemed unlikely. Sure the kitchen was overcrowded right now but she could probably pick Buffy out of Grand Central Station blindfold if she had too and she didn't doubt for a second that Buffy could do the same…if she wanted to.

So she just didn't want to then. The fact that they were both avoiding each other should have made Faith feel better. It didn't. Her avoidance was justified, Buffy's wasn't.

The bacon had been salty. A plastic carton of milk was left out on the table with just a few inches remaining. Faith reached between Kennedy and Reece to snag it.

She was on her second swallow when Dawn half-yelled over the hub-bub. "Ew, Faith. Can't you use a glass! Just because my sister likes you doesn't mean we all want your cooties, you know?"

Faith finished the milk and threw the empty carton into the can by the door. "So don't go licking stuff out of the garbage and you won't get my cooties."

She paused, realising her sarcasm had taken a wrong turn somewhere there. In that pause she also realised Dawn's righteous anger had called everyone's attention to her, the very thing she had been trying to avoid.

After everyone went back to what they had been doing, including Dawn, Buffy's eyes remained stuck on her. Annoyingly, hers remained stuck back. Only Willow and Kennedy, side by side and halfway between her and the blonde, noticed the silent staring match.

"Hey," Buffy said quietly.

"Hey," Faith responded and then had to clear her throat.

"Oh my God," Willow was looking between the two of them excitedly. "Last night! Did you two make with the…"

Buffy cut sharply through the end of her sentence. "Not now, Will."

"But…but…this is good!"

"Really?" Kennedy asked. "You're getting 'good' from this?"

"Well, uh…" Willow's happy expression fell a little.

Faith wiped the milk from her mouth with the back of her hand. She'd already been feeling uncomfortable, now she was feeling downright embarrassed and it wasn't fair, she hadn't done anything to feel embarrassed about. Unless you counted putting herself out there in the first place, and okay, yeah, that was hella embarrassing in hindsight.

"Nothing happened, Red, so keep your panties on," she muttered. "Lord knows, Buffy did."

"Hey!" Buffy's tone was a lot sharper this time but when Faith stared at her she didn't seem to have anything else to add.

"Screw this, I gotta get to work."

"No you don't, Faith." She glared at Giles for needlessly getting in her business but he seemed perfectly serious. "You have the day off, remember, because of your appointment."

"Oh, right." She glanced at Buffy, who looked as freaked as she felt. "I'm gonna cancel it. Go next week instead."

"You can't just cancel it."

"Yeah, I can actually," she countered. "I can cancel for personal emergency, bereavement and unavoidable work commitments. Didn't you bother to read the contract you wrote up for me?"

"I did. And which category would you say this morning falls into?" Giles asked.

"The work one obviously. Gonna snow any day now, gotta get those insulating tiles in the dorms. Plus the truck still ain't running smoothly and you'll be glad of that when the bad weather hits, trust me."

"But none of that is your concern today, Faith," Giles was speaking calmly but not quite patronisingly, the difference was pissing her off because it wasn't giving her the excuse she wanted to get mad. "Because I granted you the day off of work."

"You're not my boss," she said stubbornly.

Giles scoffed, "I think you'll find I am your boss."

"Not when it comes to the maintenance stuff. Xander is."

"Hey, Faith," Xander said with forced brightness, knowing the next words out of his mouth were going to cost him later. "Take the day off. Andrew can help me with the tiles."

"I can?" Andrew asked excitedly, not seeming to get the underlying tension.

Faith glared at Xander for a moment before turning back on Giles.

"If Faith wants to work, let her work," Buffy said. "We should reschedule."

"See!" Faith waved an arm at her.

"No," Giles said firmly. "Faith's continued presence in our home is not something I am prepared to let either of you put in jeopardy. You will keep the appointment even if it kills you both."

"But if it kills them en't that likely to put Faith's continued presence in our home in jeopardy?" Craig asked with pretend innocence.

Giles was just close enough to give Craig a soft cuff to the back of his head. "Choose your allegiance more wisely or I'll put _your_ continued presence in _my _home in jeopardy."

"Oh, what_ever_!" Faith and Buffy said simultaneously, without realising, and both stormed out of opposite exits.

"I still think they had sex," Willow murmured once the back door and swing door were closed again.

"If they did," Kennedy said. "I'm thinking it was bad sex."

Willow glanced at her quickly and then back at her empty cereal bowl. "But at least it was, you know, _sex_."

Kennedy rolled her eyes.

* * *

After being forced into giving Faith the day off, Xander had decided to grant himself one too. There wasn't anything that desperately needed doing anyway. The insulating tiles were really a two person job and Andrew could technically help him but he had a habit of talking non-stop about Craig these days, and as much as Xander prided himself on being open-minded and all-encompassing with the gay love, until Andrew learned the difference between polite obsession and the total divulgence of things best kept in the bedroom, he didn't want to spend too much alone time with him. Besides it would take like half the time if he just waited for Faith.

As for the truck – he was definitely a carpenter and definitely not a mechanic.

In respect for his day off he was eating his second plateful of breakfast and was still in his pajamas – or rather the sweat pants and long sleeved jersey he had substituted for his pajamas a few weeks ago, winters sure were different in Ohio, and by different he meant frickin' freezing!

The kitchen was quiet now everyone had cleared out for their day's activities and while he munched he lifted the paper over a patch of congealing baked bean sauce and dropped it next to his plate so that the back page was facing up. He'd never been much of a sports fan. Up to Junior High he had been too weedy to be any good at them, and when he hit High School and could have held his own, he got all the exercise he'd needed helping Buffy with the slaying, and then some.

Add to that his Dad's love of all 'Men's' sports: football, basketball, baseball, boxing… it had been easy for him to not give a crap about them. He remembered the time he had told his Dad he'd made swim team – he'd never been called a pansy so many times in thirty minutes in his life!

He was trying a new thing though. He'd only met his therapist once, for twenty minutes the Friday before. He was supposed to have fifty minute sessions but he'd been too weirded out, too tense to stay and fulfil his promise to Giles of giving it a real go. He'd been on his feet in fifteen. The therapist had convinced him to stay and hear him out for another five. That was when he'd given Xander the advice: Pick a team.

It was supposed to give him something to channel his energy and anger in to. A way to let off steam. Xander seriously doubted it would work, he couldn't imagine getting that invested in any sport, but he also seriously doubted he would ever make it through a full session of therapy and he knew Giles was dipping into his own funds to pay for it – although he claimed he was laying it off against expenses – so the least he could do was try the guy's advice on his own time.

He scanned the back page as he lifted a forkful of egg to his mouth. Some football team had management issues. Definitely not his thing. He turned the page. There were some luge try-outs happening in Michigan, no thank you. He scanned the opposite page and the word 'Monsters' jumped out at him. He read the headlines and first few paragraphs quickly, expecting to find that a soccer team had been eaten by demons in the Andes. Instead he learned about the ups and downs of a local hockey team. According to the reporter they were new to the game and had already found their losing streak.

He looked again at their logo just below the headline and chuckled. The demonic Bessie head just poking out of the water appealed to him; he'd had team mates that had ended up looking just like that.

Xander had found his team. However disturbing that was.

He was just finishing the article when Dawn came through the swing door and hovered over his shoulder.

"Ew, looks like something waiting to be slayed."

He read their stats again. "I think they're already being slayed."

"Do you mind if I turn the page?"

He couldn't see Dawn where she was standing but he could feel her just leaning over, not quite touching the shoulder of his jersey. Maybe his other senses were finally kicking up a notch. That would be good.

"Go for it." He turned his head to her anyway, not ready to trust his extra sensory senses yet. "Looking for something in particular?"

"Fen just texted me about something she heard on the radio."

"A shoe sale?" Xander grinned.

Dawn closed the paper and then flipped it completely. "No. That."

She pointed to the headline but Xander was already reading it.

**Child Deaths Surge to Five.**

"What the hell?" he asked rhetorically.

He pushed his half eaten breakfast away and leaned lower over the page. Dawn stooped to the same level, her arm going around his shoulders for balance.

"Fen said she'd heard of four yesterday," she muttered. "She can't have seen today's news yet."

"Which means there's been another overnight," Xander summed up. He re-read a few paragraphs. "Yeah, judging by this there's been one every night for the last five. All the kids between four and ten. This is bad!"

"You think?" Dawn's sarcasm was lost in her worried tone. "It says here that they've all been staying at local resorts."

"And that they've all been found half eaten. The head half!"

"So does that rule out a psycho human serial killer?"

"I frickin' hope so!" Xander speed read the rest of the article. "There's not much more detail here. Just pleas from the parents and police evidence."

Dawn was reading too. "Of which there is apparently _none_!"

"You know how it went in Sunnydale, Dawnie; the cops keep this kinda thing to themselves."

"But that doesn't help us."

"Not even a little. We need to call in our own cavalry."

"But Buffy and Willow are both on their way to Cleveland."

"So, the angels are out, let's call on Charlie." Xander stood, paper in hand, and led the way to Giles' office.

* * *

Buffy waved goodbye as Willow drove away from the kerb to seamlessly join the flow of traffic. She glanced at Faith as she turned to face the shiny white stone and glass high rise. It looked like an expensive place.

"We're a little early. Did you want to grab a quick mocha before we go in." she gestured to the coffee shop across the road from them.

Faith checked her watch. "We're only four minutes early."

"I did say quick."

"Let's just get it over with," Faith's tone was emotionless as she led the way through the automatic doors.

They took an elevator up to the sixth floor – not even a fifth of the way to the top but the muzak was already grating on Buffy's nerves as the doors pinged open. Or maybe it was Faith's mulish silence. Couldn't she tell Buffy was really nervous here? Would it kill her to throw a few reassuring words her way?

The elevator opened onto a reception area with one large, central desk and several cherry wood doors leading from it. Mahogany leather couches and arm chairs sat in clusters near each door, a step up from the hard-backed chairs which were usually standard issue in waiting rooms. Buffy liked the carpet, she decided, as she followed Faith to the reception desk, it was a deep blue with threads of white weaved into it, reminding her of the sea on a sunny day. It would have been calming, if anything could calm her right now.

Faith quietly told the lady behind the desk her name. From a few feet behind, Buffy strained her ears to hear the elusive surname but she must have missed it. Once she was signed in they walked around to one of the seating areas. There were people waiting outside almost every door, it was pretty busy really, but nobody looked up as they passed. Realising there might be some kind of privacy rule here; Buffy jerked her eyes away from checking out the other clients.

She settled on one end of the couch, expecting Faith to sit next to her. Faith chose an arm chair opposite instead. It seemed to be more out of habit than a desire to annoy her so Buffy bit her tongue and tried not to look to irritable.

They sat in silence. Buffy fidgeted; the couch was comfortable enough but she was sitting too formally to appreciate it. Faith looked perfectly composed apart from the fingers of her right hand soundlessly tapping her thigh.

"Do you want a cigarette?" Buffy whispered; she didn't know why, it just felt like whispering place.

"You got one?"

"No, I just…" Buffy nodded at her agitated hand. "You look like your fingers need a distraction."

"What?" Faith looked down. "Oh." She stopped the tapping clenched her fist to avoid any accidental twitching. "Better?"

"I didn't mind the tapping."

Faith nodded absently and half a minute later her fist unfurled and the soft drumming began again. Buffy kept her eye-roll to herself and looked around for a more satisfying diversion.

The door had a small, tasteful brass plaque beside it, declaring only that it was Dr. Dorothy Haywater's office. Nothing interesting there considering Buffy already knew her name.

"So what's she like?" she asked, still with that whisper.

"I already told you."

"Yeah, but, I mean, is she friendly or scary?"

Faith shrugged. "She's a shrink."

Buffy tried a different line of questioning. "Can I speak freely in front of her?"

Now Faith rolled her eyes. "She's a _shrink_."

Buffy gave up, she would just have to wait and see. Faith had told her some about her therapist but mostly only appearance and first impressions. The two of them talked a lot more than they had a month ago but they still never seemed to get into the deep conversations about anything. She didn't think it was from lack of trying on either of their parts, but something always seemed to come up – usually an argument between them or another housemate butting into the conversation with needs of their own – and while Buffy enquired politely after every one of Faith's sessions she never pushed for more than the little detail that Faith gave readily. It was mostly from fear, a desire to put off thinking about the session she would have to attend or, as it was now called… this one.

"Are you normally kept waiting this long?"

Faith shrugged again. "Depends."

"What is your problem?" Buffy finally snapped. "Do you not want me to be here? 'Cause I can go if you want. This wasn't my idea anyway and I'd hate you to think I'm trying to muscle my way into your 'me time'!"

Faith looked up, so surprised and confused her voice was soft and innocent. "Why are you yelling at me?"

The door opened halfway through her sentence and the doctor looked between the two of them appraisingly.

Buffy shot to her feet in nervous surprise and then hissed at Faith, "Thanks for making me look like the bad guy already!"

She walked through the door without waiting to be invited, figuring _her_ first impression was already ruined.

She heard Faith chuckle from the waiting room, "Actually, for an accident, that _was_ wicked perfect timing."

In a huff, Buffy threw herself down to lie on the couch, crossing her arms defensively while she waited for them to join her.

* * *

Willow was driving around outside the mall looking for a parking space. This close to Christmas it was a long job. At this rate they wouldn't get parked before they had to leave to pick Buffy and Faith up again.

Kennedy was checking constantly out of all the windows trying to spot a space before Willow made good on her threat to make them some room by teleporting one of the already parked cars into another dimension.

"So how do you think they'll get on?" she asked idly.

"If the ride over here was anything to go by," Willow mused. "My guess is they'll have broken up by the end of the session."

Kennedy chuckled. "Well if that does happen at least we won't be around for much of the initial fall out."

They were leaving for New York in two days time. Kennedy had only been there a few weeks before but that short break had just reminded her how much she missed her family. The year or so of being forced away from them because of the First hadn't been so hard, boarding school had prepared her for it she supposed, but the perpetual chaos they lived in now made her realise how lucky she was to have a stable family unit to escape to occasionally.

She was nervous about introducing Willow to them. Not because she didn't think they would love her immediately but, well, she had never introduced them to a girl she really cared about before. The girls she had taken home pre-Sunnydale had rarely meant a thing and looking back now she could see a pattern – the more her mom had shown an interest in them the faster Kennedy had moved on to the next one. Probably because her mom's interest always expressed itself as nervously over-enthusiastic, like every one was _the one_.

For that reason she hadn't spoken too much about Willow during her vacation. Not knowing if they were going to get back together or not had hurt enough and having her mom pushing her to make it work would have ruined her reasons for going home in the first place.

When she'd called home to tell her mom Willow was joining them for Christmas, she had warned her to be cool. A warning her mom had heeded at the time but would probably forget the moment they walked in the front door. She should probably warn Willow too, about what to expect, but she didn't want to say anything that might change her mind about the trip. They were doing better every day but they were still feeling their way back into the relationship, taking it really slow so neither of them could get the wrong impression…

"Do you have me on a sex ban?"

The frank question made Kennedy splutter, "What?"

"Like Buffy has Faith on," Willow said, her eyes still looking around for a parking space. "Are you not gonna have sex with me until I prove I'm a good girlfriend again?"

Kennedy laughed. "What brought this on?"

"I was thinking about Buffy and Faith."

"Thinking about Buffy and Faith makes you want to have sex?"

"No, thinking about you makes me want to have sex."

Kennedy grinned out of the passenger window.

"It's just… we haven't, for like…_ages_," Willow stressed the last word.

It was true. They hadn't made love since…wow had it really been September? Kennedy had always had a pretty healthy sex drive but so much had been going on… She'd only wanted Willow since she'd met Willow and with the badness that had occurred between them over the past few months sleeping together just hadn't been appropriate. But wow, nearly four months was a long time.

"You're not on a sex ban," she promised.

Willow looked at her briefly to smile. "Good."

"But we're not officially girlfriends again yet," she reminded, teasingly.

Willow nodded a few times and then asked, "So, no nookie until we are?"

"I don't know. Did you want to do it sooner?"

"I want to do it now!"

Kennedy grinned again, not hiding it this time. "Right now?"

Willow sighed, "Well maybe we should find a darn parking space first."


	3. Act 1:2

Thanks for the reviews :)

* * *

The first thing Faith saw when she entered Haywater's office was Buffy on the couch: arms crossed, staring at the ceiling, pout firmly in place. She chuckled under her breath but the sound carried to Buffy's slayer-ears and the pout became more pronounced.

Ignoring her for the moment Faith took her usual seat in the arm chair in front of the shrink's low, informal desk. Haywater took her seat opposite, barely offering Buffy a glance.

"So, how are we doing today, Faith?"

She hesitated because she didn't know how she was doing. Normally she sailed through these weekly sessions by rambling as much honesty as she could handle and bullshitting the rest but she couldn't do either with Buffy here.

She hadn't liked this idea much from the start but Haywater, Giles and Deb Devenrowe had insisted it would be helpful so she'd gone along with it in theory. When Buffy had let her down by not running a mile at the suggestion she had become resigned to it. Now it was here. And now she was freaking out. And last night had just made it all the harder to speak her mind in front of Buffy.

"Okay, I guess."

"You don't sound too sure."

No kidding. She tried for something a little more certain. "Work's been going well."

"Yeah, all she does is work," Buffy muttered.

Faith flinched at the sound of her voice but Haywater ignored her. "That's good. So you're getting on with Xander better now?"

"He's alright."

"He's better than alright!"

This time Faith didn't flinch. Haywater still ignored her. "Are the two of you becoming friends?"

Faith sighed. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but he's a good guy. He doesn't crowd me. He's even giving me more responsibility. Not sure why he would trust me after everything I've done but, I dunno, maybe I'm finally winning him over." She waited for a snarky comment from Buffy but it didn't come. "It's good; feeling comfortable with him."

"Is this a new feeling?"

"With him or in general?"

Haywater studied her for a moment. "In general."

Faith shifted in her seat. "Yeah."

"You don't usually feel comfortable with people?"

"Never had much cause to."

Haywater nodded and wrote something on the pad in front of her. Faith had given up – long before she met Dorothy Haywater – asking what shrinks wrote on their little pads. They never revealed.

"Other than Xander is there anyone else at home you feel comfortable with?"

As Faith hesitated she was sure she heard Buffy holding her breath. Distracted by that she didn't answer.

"What about Giles?"

"A little."

Haywater checked her notes. "What about Willow?"

"Not really." Faith thought about it though, and changed her mind. "Actually, maybe. I never thought it would happen but yeah we kinda get along now."

"What happened to change things between you?"

Faith frowned, she was sure they'd already discussed this before. Shrugging, she answered anyway. "Guess you could say we bonded when B and Kennedy had their thing."

Buffy sat up on the couch. "We never had a thing!"

Faith looked over her shoulder but Haywater just asked another question. "So you have made a friend of your own since you've been living there?"

Faith hesitated again before answering. "We're not best pals or nothing but yeah, I suppose we're sorta friends."

"Anyone else?"

She thought for a moment. "Ali, I guess. She's more of a work buddy, but we spend a lot of time together."

Haywater checked notes she'd made in a previous session. "Alison is your Slayer?"

Faith chuckled. "She's not _my _Slayer, but I patrol with her most nights. She's pretty good too. Thought she'd be as green as grass but we work well together."

Without looking she could sense that Buffy had swung her legs off of the couch and was even more alert than before. She couldn't remember if she had told Buffy her shrink was Council or not, but if she hadn't surely Giles would have.

"So you have two people, plus your job, that you are invested in. That's good, Faith. This is really good progress. One of your parole officer's concerns was that you wouldn't be able to form attachments in Boudenver, but it looks to me as if you are doing well on that front."

"Thanks."

"Miss Summers, would you like to join us now?"

"Who me?"

"Yes. You can stay where you are if you wish. Most people don't like to lie on the couch, it's a little too cliché for them, but if you'd prefer…"

Buffy was already jumping up, protesting, "I'm not a cliché! It was just…comfortable. And it wasn't like you two seemed to notice I was in the room."

"On the contrary," Haywater said as Buffy took the other chair. "Faith is very aware of your presence. She is being extremely reticent and normally I can't shut her up."

Faith smirked at her. "Thanks."

So, Miss Summers… May I call you Buffy?"

"Please do."

"Buffy, what did you hope to get out of today's experience?"

Buffy looked at Faith in alarm and then back to the shrink. "I don't know. I was just asked to come here."

"I see." Haywater's pen scratched across her pad.

"What are you writing?" Buffy asked.

"Just some notes. Nothing to worry about. Faith, what were you hoping to achieve?"

Faith thought about it seriously. She could feel Buffy watching her closely, waiting for the answer. "I think Giles thought it'd be a good idea 'cause of all the bad history we have, but I think, for me… we're just in two different places right now and we don't wanna be… only we can't seem to fix it ourselves."

"Exactly," Buffy said, nodding.

Faith smiled, pleased that she'd got it right for once. It wasn't always easy. Sometimes it felt like Buffy's wants changed by the hour. Just when Faith thought she had the situation nailed, Buffy would move the goal post. Just slightly but enough that Faith would feel like she was starting all over again. It probably wasn't deliberate, but it felt like it.

Haywater nodded too as she made some more notes.

"Seriously, what are you writing?" Buffy asked, sounding more anxious than annoyed.

Haywater smiled soothingly. "So, Buffy, where do you think you are right now?"

"In a scary shrink's office?" she tried. Seeing that was getting her nowhere she took a second to come up with a better answer. "I'm in a healthy place. I've told her I love her. I've tried to be there for her. I'm in a one hundred percent 'in this' place. She's the one who…"

Haywater raised a hand to cut her off. "Faith, where do you feel you are?"

"Same."

"Hardly," Buffy said. "She hasn't even…"

Again Haywater held up her hand. "Just a minute, Buffy. Faith, what do you mean by same?"

Faith glanced at Buffy but she was looking down at her knees. "I'm 'in it' too. Wouldn't be here if I wasn't. "

"So you're already more or less on the same page." Haywater closed her pad and put it on the low desk between them before sitting back and smiling. "That's a great place to start."

"Really?" they both asked at the same time.

Dr Haywater chuckled at the dubious and slightly frightened look they shared.

* * *

It was cold outside and the car windows were already steaming up. That was good, because their initial tentative smooch had already turned into something a little heavier. Okay, maybe more than a little heavier. Not that Willow was complaining, no siree, no complaints at all about the way Kennedy's hand was moving around beneath her winter coat and thick, fuzzy sweater.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Kennedy asked again, the question more breathless than five minutes ago but no less sincere. "Maybe we should wait 'til we get back."

"No, here's good." She didn't want to give Kennedy the time to change her mind about this.

"I just thought it might be more comfortable in your bed."

"Our bed," Willow corrected her and that seemed to curb Kennedy's thinking for a while because there was less talking and much more kissing.

She wondered if it was too forward to suggest they hop into the back seat together, the front seats with the gear shift in the middle weren't really made for this kind of thing. They should have brought the truck! That had a lovely long, wide, bench seat they could have snuggled on but then Buffy and Faith would have gotten really cold riding in the back all the way from Boudenver to Cleveland, not that the ride hadn't been cold enough thanks to the two of them anyway…

Willow realised her brain had gotten side-tracked when it really should be making the most of every second of this when Kennedy – having already unbuttoned her coat while her mind was elsewhere – started to push her jumper up.

"Too cold?" Kennedy asked, halting her upwards shift of the sweater when Willow pulled back, suddenly needing more air.

"No," she grinned, "you'll keep me toasty."

She took her coat off and raised her arms, giving Kennedy the opportunity to remove the woolly impediment altogether. She wore nothing but her bra underneath and her smile grew as Kennedy's eyes darkened with need and the slayer lurched forward, lips grazing first neck, then clavicle and then collar bone as her hot hands crept up Willow's chilly stomach to tease the material of her bra.

Willow's head fell back against the window, demisting a patch of it, as she revelled for a moment or two in Kennedy's touch; it had been absent way too long. Soon enough though she moved her hands to the front of Kennedy's pants, licking her lips in anticipation as she unbuckled the belt, so ready to take this to the next level.

The sharp tap tap tap at the driver's window made her yelp and sit up sharply. Kennedy, by contrast, went very quiet and still.

"Please tell me we parked by a tree I didn't notice and that the wind suddenly got really strong," Willow whispered.

"I didn't see a tree," Kennedy murmured.

"But that doesn't mean there wasn't one," Willow tried, desperate to hang onto any explanation but the obvious. "We were sorta distracted when we found a space. It could be…"

The tapping came again, making them both jump slightly this time. "Please step out of your car, sir!"

"So it's a talking tree," Willow whispered. "Rare but not…"

Kennedy gave her a look that told her to give it up and then gingerly wiped a circle of steam from the window glass. She tilted her head to see who owned the voice outside and Willow twisted her neck to do the same. The police officer bent down to peer through the clear circle at the same time.

"Shit," Kennedy muttered.

"Oops!" Willow started scrambling for her sweater but Kennedy was still leaning over her making it impossible to reach.

"I apologise," the cop cleared his throat. "Would you please step out of the car, ma'am."

"Which one of us?" she squeaked.

"Both of you."

He opened the door, letting a gush of icy air into the car. Willow folded her arms over her chest, as much for warmth as modesty.

"Do you mind!" Kennedy snapped as she squeezed past to jump out of the car and shield Willow from the cop and passers-by.

"With all due respect, ma'am, if you were that concerned about privacy I doubt you'd be engaging in sexual activity during business hours in the middle of a parking lot on one of the busiest shopping days of the year."

"We weren't having sex, we were just… changing out of wet clothes before going into the mall," Kennedy improvised.

The police officer eyed them thoughtfully and her ruse might have worked, if Willow hadn't chosen that moment to see the funny side and start giggling.

* * *

Giles dropped the newspaper onto his desk and sat back in his comfortable leather chair. "It's not much to go on, unfortunately."

"But we agree it's demony?" Dawn checked from the less comfortable chair on the other side of the desk.

"I would certainly be inclined to think so. Five young victims of unexplained decapitation…"

"Is it still just called decapitation when they've been bitten off right down to the belly button?" Xander asked. He was leaning against the wall and looked as sick by his question as he'd made Dawn look. "Forget I asked, I don't want any more details than necessary."

"No witnesses. Five different resort locations full of holiday makers, all of which are situated around the Hellmouth. I'd say if it's not demonic…"

"We're dealing with one pissed off reindeer," Xander joked, and then stepped forward as he had a thought. "Hey, come to think of ridiculously dangerous wildlife, maybe we should give Alex a call."

Dawn shook her head and pointed to the newspaper. "You said yourself the cops are no help. They play this stuff too close to their chests."

"Not too mention that I'm starting to think the police are trained to be deliberately stupid when it comes to dealing with the supernatural," Giles added.

"But Al's not like other cops. He's smart for one and he's our friend. He'd help if he could."

Giles nodded thoughtfully but then shook his head. "I expect you are right, but I don't want him too involved in our business." Xander went to interrupt but Giles didn't let him this time. "For his own safety as much as ours."

"Sounds like a waste of a useful resource to me," Xander said. "And it's not like we have that many resources to use around here."

He had a point and Giles conceded it with a nod. "Perhaps, off the record, you could enquire after the 'strange animal attacks' you've seen in the news this week. From that I imagine you'll be able to gauge how much he knows and how much he's hiding."

Xander grinned. "Sweet; I'm always up for a little off the record fun at Barnies."

As Dawn playfully rolled her eyes, Giles gave him a stern look. "If you honestly think Alex can be a useful ally to the Council in the future then it is important that you take this task seriously."

"Sure," he agreed easily – too easily.

"I mean it, Xander," he said to force the point home. "Something like this would normally fall under the duties of an official Council Operative."

Xander's smile had dropped. "Want me to call Robin for you?"

"No, I think despite your lack of official status you are the right person for this job, but please, all I ask is that you approach it with the same care you have shown to renovating the shower block."

Xander still looked grumpy but when Giles finally gave him a smile, the young man nodded.

"Now, if you could in fact call Robin and anyone else in residence today, we'll reconvene in the kitchen to discuss what other avenues we have for researching this threat."

* * *

The office was getting warmer. Maybe someone had cranked the heat up to the max to compensate for the freezing day outside or maybe it was all the intense pressure to say the right thing making Buffy sweat.

She pulled at the rolled collar of her polo-neck for relief as she tried to find the best way to answer the current question.

"I guess I just feel that everything comes before me. Work, slaying, school, even socialising…"

Faith scoffed at that. "The only person I socialise with is her!"

"That's not true. You go to Barnies all the time without me."

Before Faith could snap back Dr Haywater asked, "How often is all the time, Buffy?"

Buffy thought about it, wondering if mentioning this stuff was petty. Was it really what they were here for? To bicker about trivial matters. Didn't they do enough of that on their own time? But the Doctor's question had been fairly specific: What annoys you the most about where your relationship stands now?

"She goes once or twice a week for the evening alone and sometimes after patrol if Alison isn't with her, and I know she and Xander always stop for a drink if they have to go to the lumber yard for supplies. That counts as socialising without me, right?"

Haywater didn't answer her, instead turning in her seat enough to face Faith. "Would you say that was a fair assessment?"

Faith shrugged.

"And would you like to respond? Share your view of the situation?"

She shrugged again. "What's there to say? I work my ass off during the day, I patrol nearly every night and in-between I'm going to night classes, seeing Deb D and coming here. If I wanna chill in my spare time with a beer I think she should understand that. Its not like I have a lot else that's just for me right now."

Buffy turned angrily in her seat, finally talking directly to Faith again. "That's my point. You're supposed to chill with me. I get that you have to do all that other stuff, we've been through it enough times, it's why we're taking it slow. But when your crappy day is over I'm supposed to be the one you want to spend time with, not the old men at Barnies, me! I'm supposed to be the thing that's just for you."

Faith chuckled bitterly. "Don't make me laugh, B. You ain't mine. You want me to be yours, sure, but don't kid yourself it goes both ways."

As Buffy stared at her, having no idea how to respond to such an unexpected accusation, Haywater sneaked in a question.

"And Faith, what annoys you the most about where your relationship stands now?"

Buffy tensed, waiting for her to say 'lack of sex' and take this session to a whole new level of needing therapy. Faith thought about it, the long silence just making Buffy even more edgy.

"Is it really that hard to pick just one thing," she joked feebly.

"Think it's probably all part of what I just said," Faith began eventually. "I'm sick of being the underdog all the time."

"Who said you're the underdog?"

"You don't have to say it, B! It's in everything you do…" Faith looked away as she muttered. "…or don't do. I get no say. I just have to follow you and do what you want to do, when you want to do it, but Buffy I'm not a follower. I sure as hell ain't _your _follower. So if we can't be equal in this relationship…"

"What?" Buffy asked, her voice as cold as the shiver running down her spine. "You'll break up with me?"

"No, not gonna do that. I'll keep spending my evenings drinking at the bar."

"That's why you do it! You're _rebelling_?" Buffy shook her head. "Newsflash, Faith: We won't be on equal terms until you start putting some effort into what we have here and that's never going to happen if you keep going to Barnies to _avoid _me!"

"Effort?" Faith shouted. "You want frickin' effort? What do you call last night? Did you even think for a second how long it took me to wrap myself up like that? Or, more importantly, wonder how into this _relationship _I must beto make myself look like such a total dick for you? Huh? Do you think something like that comes natural to me? I made an effort, B, I keep making an effort. You, on the other hand, can't even be fucked to get up off your ass in the evening and meet me at Barnies."

After the outburst the only thing Buffy could think to say was, "You've never asked me to meet you there."

"Should I have to? If we're really together shouldn't you wanna do stuff like that without me having to ask? I keep hearing from your friends how screwed up and abandoned you feel 'cause all your exes and your dad left you and how I made it all ten times worse when I ran off, but really B, I live in the same house as you and you still make me feel like that _every day_."

Buffy stared at her in silence for so long she was surprised the doctor didn't tell them their time was up before she spoke again. About halfway through the silence Faith stood abruptly and went to the water cooler on the far side of the office. She helped herself to a plastic cup of water and then stayed, facing the wall, while she slowly sipped from it.

Buffy glanced at the therapist, whose face remained impassive, waiting to see how she would respond, and then tried to swallow the golf ball sized lump in her throat.

"It's different," she managed. "I haven't abandoned you. You're the one who did all the abandoning. I was right here waiting for you. I still am."

Faith didn't turn around. "Then why, when I'm with you, does it feel like the opposite."

Buffy shrugged sadly. "I don't know."

* * *

The kitchen, although full, didn't seem right to Dawn. Without Buffy there, or Willow – or even _Faith_ – it didn't seem like a real meeting. Other than Giles, who admittedly could make an evening watching funny sitcoms feel like the annual general meeting of a boring TV committee, and Xander, who was standing behind the counter as if offering to make tea for everyone would disguise the fact that he was having a liquid lunch again – and the liquid wasn't tea! – and seemed to be only half listening to what was happening now, she was the most senior Council member there, if you looked past the fact that she wasn't really so much a Council member and more just Buffy's little sister who just happened to be stuck there whether she wanted to be or not.

'_And I'm the one who found the threat in the first place,"_ she thought as her mood went from proud to depressed in the space of one stream of consciousness. _'Not that anyone's acknowledging that now._'

Actually, it had been Fen who found the threat, but as Fen didn't really know what she had seen in the newspaper Dawn felt comfortable accepting the credit – if anyone bothered offering it to her.

"And so, until anything turns up that can rule it out, we will be treating these attacks as supernatural and taking an active role in trying to decipher what is behind them," Giles was saying.

As Dawn saw a few of the Slayers faces go blank she helpfully chipped in, "We're going to investigate them and see if we can stop the demon."

"Yes, quite. So far the information we have is very scarce. In fact," he sighed ruefully. "It's whatever details we could glean from this morning's newspaper."

A few people shuffled their feet and muttered about how much use that wasn't.

"I'm aware of that, which is why I propose a couple of you head out to the store now and buy a copy of any other local newspaper they stock. Nationals too. This has been happening for five days so there's a chance they've picked it up already and I imagine their reporters are a little more vigorous in their search for particulars."

"How did this happen under our noses without _us _picking it up?" Rona asked and there was a murmur of agreement from the other slayers.

"I'm afraid that's something that…" Giles began, his voice hesitating because he really didn't have a good excuse.

"With you guys all going through the intensive training program in Cleveland the last few weeks local patrol has been neglected," Dawn said. "Plus none of you go onto private land, so if this demon's been hiding out at various resorts you wouldn't have come across him anyway."

"Yeah, but now he's made five moves and we haven't made one yet," Alison said.

Dawn knew she was right. Wasn't anyone reading the local news to see what was happening? Buffy used to scan it daily back in Sunnydale, usually just the headlines and the obituaries true, but at least it was something.

Seeing that Dawn had lost her momentum with that comment, Reece stepped in. "So let's make a move now. Rona and I will go to the shop for the papers. Alison, why don't you come with us? We can ask the old bloke behind the counter if he's heard anything too."

"That's a good idea, but be discreet," Giles cautioned. "I'm still not sure what to make of that fellow."

Reece turned to Dawn with a smile. "Would you like to come?"

She returned the smile with one even bigger but declined. "I'd better stay here, just in case I can be useful."

"Okay, see you later." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading for the back door. Along with Rona and Alison, Miranda went too.

Behind them, Xander turned the radio on. "Almost time for the news," he explained as he lowered the volume to unobtrusive.

Giles nodded at his idea.

"Someone should check the local news websites too," Dawn suggested.

"I can do that," Cici offered. "I'll just get my laptop from the dorm."

"Next on the agenda," Giles said with a frown. "Somebody has to go to the morgue and identify the condition of the bodies."

"Ew." Vi pulled a face. "Do we have to? Wouldn't their parents already have done that?"

"Not to identify who they were," Dawn clarified, "but to identify any marks that might lead us to what type of demon it is."

"Oh," Vi said, understanding. "Eww."

"I'd like you to do that if you don't mind," Giles asked Robin.

Dawn's ex-principal didn't look very happy about the undertaking but nodded solemnly. "Of course, I'll just need the address. And do we have any protocol for this kind of covert mission."

"In Sunnydale we did, but here I'm afraid we're making it up as we go along for the time being."

"Can Craig do glamour's?" Dawn asked. "That's what Willow uses for jobs like this."

Craig was sitting on the side counter behind everyone else, not really involved in the discussion, but he spoke up now. "I've never done one before but I'm up for it if someone shows me how."

"Maybe its time Willow started passing on some of her trade secrets," Xander said as he finally handed mugs of tea to her and Giles. "Nothing too heavy, just glamour's and locator spells, the stuff we used to use all the time back home."

"I'll just go along and if I can't get in without raising too much suspicion, I'll come back and wait for Willow to make me glamorous. Might be useful to have a partner for this mission too," Robin added hopefully.

"Yes, you're right. Ahh…"

While Giles was still deciding Dawn half lifted her hand. "I don't mind going."

Giles smiled at her, "Thank you for offering, Dawn, but I'm afraid Buffy would never allow it."

She shrugged. "Buffy's not the boss, you are."

He smiled again as if she were still eleven and had said something cute but stupid and then dismissed her. "Actually… Naomi, if you don't mind such a gruesome task..."

Naomi stood from her seat at the table with a sigh. "This is what I get for demanding some fieldwork isn't it?"

Giles grinned at her affectionately. "Yes."

Dawn figured the partnership had more to do with Giles thinking that if big, black and muscled didn't work to intimidate their way in, then petite, blonde and gorgeous might be enough to charm their way in but she kept her conjecture to herself.

"Would you like us to call in at the sheriff's department too?" Robin asked. "I doubt they'll tell us anything but it doesn't hurt to ask."

"No, that won't be necessary," Giles said.

"Are you sure? We'll be going right past it."

"I'm sure. Xander's going to deal with that angle."

"Fair enough." Robin gave a nod, and then after Cici had found the addresses for the two closest morgues, he and Naomi left.

"I suppose that leaves the rest of us to study the resorts where the murders took place," Giles looked around at the rest of them. "Perhaps their locations are a good place to start. Vi, would you fetch the map of Boudenver District from my office, it's on top of the bookshelf. Andrew, are you ready?"

Andrew had fixed up the white board in a corner of the kitchen but now he'd been called upon realised he had no pen to write with.

Dawn pulled a black marker out of the dresser drawer and threw it to him.

"Thanks," he said absently as he pulled the cap off.

Dawn gave a hard-done by sigh.

* * *

Kennedy was at the wheel now as they drove back around the city to pick Buffy and Faith up. She was still feeling flustered after their experience with the cop, her skin still flushed pink despite the window being open to clear the last of the fog from the inside of the glass.

"I can't believe you started laughing," she snapped mildly, and not for the first time since they'd left the parking lot. "I had him fooled until then."

Just at the mention of it Willow started chuckling again. "I couldn't help it!" she insisted. "It was just…. you looked so freaked… a…and he was trying to be all professional and it was… funny."

"Yeah, a five hundred dollar fine is really funny," she sniffed.

Willow calmed down, if only to humour her. "It's not ideal, I agree, but we'll get the money and at least we don't have to pay it until after the holidays."

"You should pay all of it. It was all your crazy idea in the first place!" Willow looked horrified for a moment and Kennedy finally gave in and smiled at her. "I'm kidding, Will. I'd put it on my emergency credit card but I can't have it showing up on a statement. I'm supposed to be showing my parents how mature and responsible I am so they'll restart my allowance and I don't think a fine for sexual misconduct will help somehow."

"No, probably not." Willow was quiet for a moment before softly chuckling again. "It was fun though, right?"

Kennedy grinned, remembering what a turn on it had been getting reacquainted with Willow's body and the extra buzz of knowing they were in the car in the middle of the day and Willow was so hot for her she didn't care.

"Oh yeah."

* * *

Faith was sitting back down, albeit with her ass on the wide back of the chair and her feet on the seat, and now Buffy was the one up and pacing. Faith followed her with her eyes.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Buffy barked, and then turned to Haywater. "I don't know what she wants me to say!"

The therapist kept her tone soft, trying to stay as low profile as she could. "Just answer the question as honestly as you can, Buffy."

"I answered it last night!" Buffy looked close to tears.

Faith wasn't feeling particularly moved. "No, you said, 'I can't, sorry' and then you ordered me out of your room."

"And that was my answer!"

"So why couldn't you?" When Buffy didn't speak Faith continued. "You wanted to wait, to take it slow, I was onboard…"

"You were never onboard!"

"Okay, I was running along side hardly complaining, same diff, but its been nearly four months now, B! What are we waiting for exactly? Does the world have to nearly end again before you're ready? 'Cause I don't know if I can wait that damn long!"

"So if I'm not ready before the next apocalypse season you're gonna leave me?" The anger was making her voice tremble.

"Hell, if you won't even tell me why we're waiting, why the fuck should I stick around?"

"Wait a moment, Faith," Haywater interrupted.

Faith turned angrily to tell her to butt out, but the doctor was looking at Buffy, an inquisitive compassion in her eyes that showed she'd seen something Faith hadn't.

"What?" Buffy snapped quietly, not liking the scrutiny.

"Do you mind if I give my opinion on why I think you're not ready, in front of Faith?"

Buffy's trembling had increased but she gave a quick 'go ahead' nod.

"Thank you." Haywater took a glance at her watch. "I'll keep this simple because we're nearly out of time, but I think you're scared to commit to Faith in a physical sense because you're convinced it will mean more to you than to her."

"Why the hell would she think that when I'm the only one who seems to want it?" Faith asked.

Haywater turned to her now, but still kept glancing at Buffy.

"You're relationship is unequal, but not in the way you both think. Faith, you feel that Buffy is calling all the shots, controlling the relationship to the point where you have no say. Buffy feels as if she can't control the relationship and has no say in how you deal with the things you are going through, including how they relate to her. In short, you are both fighting for control, which isn't surprising considering how alike you are, but that's not the way to forge a healthy relationship and you're never going to be happy together until you give up that way of thinking."

"So you're saying Buffy isn't having sex with me because she thinks I'm controlling this relationship? That's bullshit!"

"Faith's right. If I let her control anything we'd be doing it twenty-four-seven! How much is Giles paying you for this crap?"

Dr. Haywater rolled her eyes as they proved her opinion without realising it, and stood up. "Well, that's all we have time for today. I'll see you the first week in January, Faith."

"Wait, that's it?" Buffy asked, her anger turning to panic. "You're supposed to be fixing us!"

Faith stayed stubbornly seated, waiting for more too.

"I have another appointment in ten minutes…"

"Then you have ten more minutes to help us!" Buffy said.

"No, I'm afraid this session is at an end," Haywater said firmly, but relented enough to add, "but I'll give you some advice. Forget about your relationship for the holidays. Don't try to be a couple. It's a stressful enough time of year for couples anyway and you're only going to make things harder. Just try to be yourselves, have fun, go to parties – Faith you mentioned there was a Christmas Ball in Boudenver this week?"

"Yeah, tomorrow night. Why?"

"I suggest you go separately, leave the uncertainty you feel together behind and concentrate only on your own happiness for a few days. I think it'll make you feel much better when you re-evaluate your relationship in the new year."

Faith glared at her until she'd finished speaking, it felt like Haywater was saying they should break up and she wanted to shove the words back down her throat with her fist, but then a glance to her left showed Buffy's steely but thoughtful expression and, _screw this_, wasn't like the relationship was doing her any favours anyhow, a break was exactly what she needed.

"Done!" She jumped off the chair and stalked to the door.

"Best advice ever!" Buffy agreed, following her, looking like she would have punched through the door if Faith hadn't automatically held it open for her.

Dorothy Haywater watched them go with a worried frown but when the door slammed shut behind them she gave a small smile. They'd be okay… hopefully… as long as they followed her advice. If they didn't they probably wouldn't last until New Year and she dreaded to think how Faith's future sessions would go then. She picked up her notepad to record her final observations, noticing regrettably that she now only had _two_ minutes to go until her next client.


	4. Act 1:3

Thanks for the reviews :)

* * *

Barnies looked completely different tonight. A large Christmas tree was set up in one corner, complete with fairy lights, shiny red and silver baubles and a sparkling angel on the top. More strings of white fairy lights, dozens of them, hung across the ceiling from beam to beam and between them fluttered long, glittery strands of red, green and silver tinsel – some hanging across the ceiling and some dangling down like shiny, festive waterfalls that shimmered in the light.

It was beautiful and Buffy was glad she'd spent two hours getting ready after all. It had seemed like a waste of time while she was bathing and applying her make-up and slipping into her new dress, but now… now it almost felt worth it. Even if she was here alone…sort of.

The whole household had come out tonight all in all their finery, even the younger slayers. Alex had told Xander it would be fine, provided no one under twenty-one was drinking alcohol. Buffy had figured he was counting on them to fill the usually quiet bar up, but she was obviously wrong – the bar was already jam-packed with locals and tourists. In fact, they had trouble all fitting into the spacious tavern.

Buffy went to the bar with Giles, Xander and Willow but Alex waved them away, promising to bring drinks over in a minute. On the one hand she was pleased she didn't have to wait at the crowded bar, on the other she had a feeling it would take more than a minute for drinks to arrive and she was feeling a serious need for alcohol tonight.

Faith, despite all odds, had found them a table. Ugh, Faith! She was trying not to think about her or look at her – even though she was stunning in her short, black dress with the red laces cats-cradling across the deep-set V of bare skin at the front. The dress had come with black string, but Buffy knew Faith had substituted the red laces from her new boots to do the job. It should have looked stupid, and Buffy had expected it would, but it looked awesome and… Faith-like.

Gah! She wasn't supposed to be thinking about her. Buffy turned her back on the table and scanned the crowd. Dawn was already dancing with Reece on the small dance floor and Buffy took a moment to appreciate how fluidly Dawn danced, prepared to take it as a compliment to her own dancing skills because she'd taught her when they were younger; except not really, she supposed. But hey, Dawn was made from her, so they were still her dancing skills. Happy with that logic, Buffy almost joined her, but she didn't really want to dance with Reece and her sister probably wouldn't welcome the interruption anyway.

That didn't help her antsiness though. "Will, wanna go dance?"

"If Kennedy wants to," her friend didn't look away from smiling at the younger slayer.

"In a little while," Kennedy said. "Let's have a drink first."

The way she pulled Willow in for a full on kiss made Buffy think a drink was the last thing on Kennedy's mind, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly before leaning closer to Xander.

"Dance?"

"Why not!" He grinned and grabbed her hand to lead her over.

When they were dancing she raised her voice to be heard over the music. "You seem chipper tonight."

"It's something I'm trying out."

"It suits you."

"Giles gave me an assignment yesterday."

After the disastrous visit to the therapist, Buffy had indulged in solitude for the rest of the day, not even going down for dinner. She had spent most of today the same way, apart from a quick meeting with Giles where he'd told her about the suspected kid-eating demon – and could she just say how very much she was looking forward to slaying that asshole!

"An assignment? What does he want you to do now? Paint the house with a toothbrush? Isn't he working you hard enough already?"

"Not as hard as you're working me," Xander quipped, referring to their one on one training sessions. "And not that kind of assignment."

"Oh. Then what kind?"

"It's a secret."

"Is it really a secret or are you just saying that to make it sound more important?"

"I dunno, but it's definitely one of those."

Buffy didn't press him for more info. She was just happy to see Xander grinning so cheerfully again. Between him and Willow they were almost back to normal; she was the only one still finding it hard to smile. She wasn't dwelling on that tonight though. She was living it up, kicking up her heels, forgetting all about a certain someone sitting not far behind her. She had to, it was doctor's orders.

* * *

Faith sat leaning comfortably back in her chair, one arm around the back of Naomi's, as she people-watched. She was idly deciding who in the bar was screwable while she waited for her beer to turn up.

Her first choice would have been the chick sitting next to her but that might be a little close to home for her these days. It was getting annoying 'cause every time her eyes wandered to check out other prospective one-night partners they kept landing back on Buffy, who was shaking her sexy ass on the dance floor with Xander.

She knew if there was any sign that Buffy didn't want her to follow Haywater's advice, she wouldn't even be trying to think this way, but Buffy hadn't so much as said a word to her since leaving the shrink's office yesterday afternoon, so obviously it was what Buffy wanted. She was free, for damn sake, for a week at least, so why couldn't she get her head off of that blonde bitch and back in the game? It was a game she was usually so good at too.

She leaned closer to the young Watcher, catching her attention with her eyes, but all she could think to say was, "So any idea when these drinks are showing up?"

"I'm afraid not, no." Naomi looked like she was about to go back to a conversation with Miranda, but then slyly spoke to her again. "Faith, there's a bowl of punch by the bar. Do you think it has alcohol in it?"

Faith noticed the large bowl for the first time; well it was more a glass bucket really. There were kids helping themselves to cupfuls and no adults were chasing them away.

"Doubt it."

Naomi nodded. "Then do you think you could spike it for me?"

Faith gave a surprised laugh. That was the last thing she'd expected to come out of the English girl's mouth. "What?"

"I haven't had a real drink in months," Naomi complained with a smile. "I am legal back home," she added like that made any difference to Faith.

Faith nodded, liking the way Naomi's eyes lit up as they talked. "I'll see what I can do, cupcake."

* * *

Willow and Kennedy had managed to find one seat between them. That was fine with Willow; she sat comfortably across her girlfriend's lap as they kissed. When they parted for a moment to take a breather, she looked around and noticed that Xander was at the bar and Buffy was dancing alone now. Well, not completely alone, Cici and Alison were dancing beside her, but Buffy didn't look like she had noticed.

When Kennedy leant up to kiss her again, she turned her face slightly to the side so that Kennedy's lips fell against the side of her mouth, not wanting to put her off but needing to be able to speak.

"We should probably go dance with Buffy now."

"I'd rather keep doing this." Kennedy kissed her way across to Willow's lips until they were securely joined again.

Willow happily indulged her for a minute before breaking away to say, "We're gonna get fined for public indecency again if we keep going."

"Good point." Kennedy smiled as she sat back and then looked over at Buffy. "What do you think's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. She's barely spoken a word since we picked them up yesterday." Willow twisted on Kennedy's lap to look at Faith. She was _flirting _with Naomi; at least it looked that way. "And Faith's acting strange too, or actually she's acting normal for Faith, but that's strange 'cause she hasn't since she's been back."

Kennedy nodded, eyes flicking between her elders, one on the dance floor, one sitting just ten feet away, and then focused back on her.

"Okay, five more minutes of us-time and then we'll go dance with her."

"Maybe we should make it three," Willow said, liking the idea but worried about Buffy, and Faith, weirdly enough.

"Okay," Kennedy said agreeably.

As soon as their lips touched again, and Willow lost herself in the feeling, she mumbled, "No, actually, five minutes is good."

* * *

Buffy tried dancing with the newbies but they made her feel old; the seven year gap between their ages really showing itself with their different dance styles. She turned to dance with Dawn instead but less than half a song had passed before Reece gracefully swept her sister closer to his body and she had to turn away to avoid punching his lights out. Xander had said he'd only be a minute but was still nowhere in sight. It was time to go in search of the promised alcohol.

Luckily, she didn't have to go far. As she reached the table, Alex arrived to set a big tray of drinks down. Thanking him, she took a beer and sipped it. That was when she saw Faith and Naomi acting all friendly together. What was that about? Naomi had turned Buffy down because she was straight but now she was giggling about something with Faith? Was it her? Did she turn women off the second she got close to them or something?

She turned away from the table and drained her beer in a series of gulps. Then, hoping no one noticed, she grabbed another.

* * *

Xander washed his hands again as a guy came out of one of the stalls. At this rate people were going to start thinking he had some kind of obsessive compulsion but that was a better reputation than the one he would get for loitering in the Men's room doing nothing.

Alone again, he checked his watch and winced. Yeesh! He'd been in here nearly twenty minutes. Maybe catching Alex in here wasn't such a good plan after all. Had to be better than standing around the three deep bar for any longer though. Getting his feet trodden on, beer spilled down his pant leg and people constantly jostling his blind side – something he doubted he would ever get used to no matter how long he trained with Buffy – while unsuccessfully trying to attract the barman's attention.

Xander's enthusiasm for his appointed task had started to drop until he'd heard Alex shouting over the music to his assistant that he was taking a break in five minutes. It looked like he either hadn't found a good time to escape from behind the bar yet or he hadn't needed to use the restroom on his break.

The door opened again and he looked behind hopefully but it was just Andrew. This was getting ridiculous – actually it might have been ridiculous to start with.

"Hey, Xander, I didn't realise you were still in here." Andrew went into a stall to pee. "Is everything okay? It wasn't my Fiery Mussel Spaghettini was it? – the shopkeeper swore they were fresh but have you noticed how we never see him with a fresh fish delivery van outside?"

Andrew came out of the stall and Xander stepped to the side to let him get to the sinks. The door opened and Xander looked up eagerly but was disappointed again as Craig came through, focused solely on Andrew.

"There you are. I wouldn't have been waiting out there for you if I'd knew you were waiting in here for me." His hands landed on Andrew's hips, pulling him closer, and his lips were almost on Andrew's when Xander hurriedly cleared his throat. "Oh. Alright mate, didn't see you there."

He still gave Andrew a kiss but it was more innocent than Craig had originally intended. Although not that innocent! Great, now not only was he loitering in a Men's room he was doing it while watching two boys making out. Xander averted his gaze to the mirror, realised that made no difference at all – he was just seeing it inverted – and turned completely so that his blind eye was to them. Finally losing an eye had a bright side!

"Uh, guys, maybe this isn't the best place to be…"

Andrew pulled away from his boyfriend, cheeks flushed with a mixture of excitement and embarrassment. "Sorry!"

Craig chuckled and took Andrew's hand to pull him out of the restroom.

Xander gave up and followed them out – he didn't really want to spend the entire Christmas Ball in the bathroom – trying to figure out how else he might catch Alex alone tonight.

* * *

Spiking the punch was a no go. Sneaking something into it would be easy enough – Faith's past had its uses – but there were kids of all ages helping themselves to it. She didn't much give a crap if Naomi got drunk, in fact she kinda wanted to see the prim and proper English chick with her respectability down, but her conscience was too active these days to let a bunch of fourteen year olds get wasted without even realising it.

There were other ways to go about it though.

If Faith hadn't been a slayer there was no way she would have been able to carry the large round tray of drinks all the way from the bar to their table. It was so busy she couldn't even go in a straight line, having to weave in and out of groups of locals with the tray held over her head like a well-trained cocktail waitress. When she set it down on the table top, gently using the edge to nudge empty glasses out of the way, there wasn't a drop spilled. Moving swiftly and efficiently, she doled out the beverages with both hands, passing a soft drink one way to a minor and the shot of choice to the legal adult the other way, helping herself to a couple of shots as she worked. It was all done so smoothly even if anyone had been paying much attention they wouldn't have noticed the way one shot glass tilted in Faith's half closed hand and was placed on the other side of the tray empty.

As she finally took a seat again Faith grabbed her beer from the tray and passed Naomi's orange juice to her.

"Cheers," she said with a wink and clinked their glasses together.

Naomi echoed her before raising her glass to her lips. Tasting the vodka in the orange juice she licked her lips with a smile. "Thank you."

"No problem. Just let me know when you want a refill." Faith leaned casually closer as if just getting comfortable. "Or when you want to dance."

Naomi watched her face as she took another sip of her drink, trying to figure her out if Faith was any judge. "Won't you get into trouble?" she murmured.

Faith shrugged. "No rule against slayers dancing with watchers far as I know."

Naomi's clear blue eyes slowly moved to the other side of the table and back again. She could have been looking at her uncle but as Buffy was talking to Giles, Faith guessed she was the recipient of the deliberate look.

"Nah, she won't give us any trouble," Faith said lightly, keeping the bitter taste of the words to herself.

* * *

'_I'm enjoying myself, I'm enjoying myself, I'm enjoying… Are they going to dance?' _Buffy forgot she was talking to Giles and turned away from him as Faith and Naomi stood up, laughing like old friends, and squeezed their way through the crowd to the dance floor.

"I can't believe her!" she snapped, not realising she had spoken aloud.

Giles switched conversational gears as easily as her but obviously hadn't seen what she had. "Faith or Dawn?" he asked politely, making her wonder just how predictable she was these days.

"Dawn's fine. She's in love, she has a boyfriend who wants to dance with her, her Christmas is going to be just peachy." Buffy fell into a brooding silence but it didn't last, the urge to rant was just too strong. "And what kind of crackpot shrink did you send us to Giles? Huh?"

"Only the best in the business. Is there a problem with Dr. Haywater?"

"Only if you don't wanna be alone on the holidays. Which I didn't! But I'm sure if you're an unfeeling bitch like…"

"Buffy, be careful of what you are saying in the heat of the moment," he cautioned.

"I know exactly what I am saying, Giles!" But his concern had taken some of the heat out of her temper. "I was hoping that this year, finally, I could have a happy, family Christmas again – almost like when Mom was alive – but I guess I'm just not supposed to have one of those any time soon."

"Who says?"

She ducked her head. "Faith and I are going from bad to worse. In fact, we're so bad that your great doctor has prescribed us a trial separation. So, I don't even get to spend the holidays with my annoying, selfish girlfriend because now, for the next week at least, I don't even have one of those!"

"That all sounds very…um…" Giles didn't know how to finish his sentence.

"I was okay with it until I realised how much she was going to enjoy her freedom," she continued, waving a hand vaguely in the direction of where Faith was dancing. "You know what? Never mind. I have just as much freedom as she does and I can enjoy it just as good. I just need alcohol to do it." She scanned the tray of shots Faith had recently carried over; they were all empty now. "She drank my drink too?"

* * *

After taking a sip from the vodka and orange at the bar, Faith switched the glasses in her hands as she walked away, handing that one to Naomi and keeping the straight juice for herself.

"You're good at this," Naomi said.

Faith gave her a grin. "I used to be a delinquent." Back at the table the grin fell when she realised Buffy was waiting for her. "What?"

"You drank my drink."

"Pretty sure I never bought you a drink."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Wasn't really supposed to make you feel anything."

"Like you're obviously not?"

Naomi was still standing at her side looking perfectly composed but Faith felt uncomfortable having a witness to Buffy chewing her out.

"B, we're not supposed to be doing this, remember?"

"It's a drink, Faith, it's not like I'm asking you to dance with me."

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll go buy you a drink."

"I don't want you to buy me a drink, I want you to have _bought_ me a drink."

Faith gave her a blank look. Why did Buffy have to make everything so damn difficult?

"Whatever," Buffy snapped. "I'll take yours!" And she'd taken the glass out of her hand before Faith could stop her.

"B, wait…"

Buffy downed it in one, pulled a face, smacked her lips and pulled the glass away to give it a funny look. "Is this just orange juice?"

"Well it was."

"Why aren't you drinking?"

Naomi smiled at them both nodding towards where Miranda and Alison were sitting. "I'll give you some privacy. Fetch me if you'd like to dance again."

Buffy watched her go and then turned back to Faith. "Well?"

"I'm pacing myself. It's early. No need to get wrecked in the first hour, B," Faith calmly gave the excuses as she thought of them. "Not like I got any sorrows to drown this week, right?"

Hurt flashed across Buffy's face but then something seemed to occur to her that she found amusing. Her lips twitched in a small smile.

"Are you staying sober to impress Naomi?"

"No!"

"Oh." She was more hesitant as she asked, "Are you staying sober to impress me?"

"No," she repeated softly. "Look, I'm not even planning on staying sober, got the whole night ahead of us… ahead of me… to get drunk. Don't rush me." She gave Buffy a half-smile and then slipped around her and away.

Knowing she shouldn't, Buffy turned anyway to watch her go. On the other side of the table Faith fell back into her chair. Immediately Naomi turned to her, whispering and giggling. The demure girl didn't normally relax so easily. Faith said something, shook her head, said something else and then laughed. Were they laughing at her? Buffy wished she could eavesdrop but the noise level in the bar made it impossible. She watched Faith take a big gulp of Naomi's orange juice before handing it back, like they were already so close that sharing drinks was nothing, before she turned away.

Was she about to be replaced that easily? By agreeing to Haywater's stupid advice had she sealed their fate once and for all? But she hadn't agreed first! Faith had been the eager one, Buffy just hadn't wanted to lose face. Oh God, did that mean Faith had wanted this opportunity for a while?

Head full of horrible thoughts, Buffy wandered away from the table, stopping subconsciously within the comfort bubble of Willow and Kennedy. They stopped kissing reluctantly when they noticed her.

"Are you okay, Buffy?" Willow asked, taking in her friend's sad expression.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I'm taking my medicine."

Willow and Kennedy shared a confused glance.

"What's up between you and Faith?" Kennedy asked.

"We're on a break."

"What, like Ross and Rachel?" Kennedy said.

Willow shook her head. "Ross and Rachel weren't on a break!"

"'Course they were," Kennedy countered, grinning. "She said she wanted a break. Can't blame the dude for thinking she meant it."

"But it didn't count! They were in the middle of an argument…"

"Thanks, guys," Buffy smiled sarcastically. "You've been a lot of help."

She walked away.

"Oops," Willow said ruefully.

Kennedy nodded but then looked up at the mistletoe above them. She pointed at it. "Still…"

"Good point," Willow smiled and they got back to what they had been doing before. They had so much lost time to make up for.

* * *

Xander had eventually given up on catching Alex alone for the night. Now he was using his initiative, determined to see his mission through somehow.

He was standing by the DJ alcove and with all the speakers facing in the opposite direction it was just about possible to have a casual conversation with Alex's cousin – their electrician – without shouting.

Always friendly anyway, the steady pay check Xander offered him made the boy more than happy to talk while he worked. They'd already covered the delights of the Christmas Ball and each other's holiday plans.

"That's bad business in the news, huh?" Xander played it cool.

Too cool apparently. "What news?"

"About the… the… kids, yunno, being attacked and stuff." Okay, that was less cool.

"Oh, right." The boy nodded, but was more intent on scanning the track listing on a CD case of Christmas songs. "Sure is. Not unusual though, is it?"

Xander frowned. "How do you mean? Do kids get bitten in half all the time 'round here?" His tone was joking but he was genuinely concerned. Was this not a recent thing? How many had they missed then?

The boy looked up, suddenly seeming to realise the conversation he was having. Xander hoped that didn't mean he was about to clam up.

"'Course, forgot you guys were greenhorns. You haven't spent a Christmas here yet have you?"

"No, this'll be our first." When the boy nodded and went back to his music, Xander asked, "Why?"

"This happens almost every year. Bunch of kids get snatched from outside of town. It's wolves. They come across the border when the snow makes hunting hard. Take the vulnerable little ones."

Horrified, Xander asked, "It's really that common?"

"Sure as sugar is sweet I won't be letting my little boy wander off on his own this time of year."

Xander took a moment to digest that. Surely a normal wolf couldn't bite a kid in half. But a werewolf could.

"The newspaper didn't seem to think it was wolves."

The DJ shrugged. "None of the journalists are from here though, are they? They all want a big scoop so they… what's the word… speculate. They come up with their own theories, serial killers and stuff, but you ask me, well anyone around here, no human could do what's done to those little kids."

Xander agreed with that much at least. "Is Alex doing anything about it? If he knows what it is already?"

"He'll mount a hunting party, same as every year, but they don't usually catch the critters responsible. Wolves are territorial, see; they come down here to hunt but then they scamper back to where they belong and Alex hasn't got jurisdiction in Canada."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, that would be a problem."

"Hey, you're thinking your little club could do something about this, aren't you? Protect the wolves or something."

"No way! When it comes to big bad wolves we are definitely on the side of Little Red Riding Hood, but I think Giles will be interested in the… the phenomena," he said, thinking fast. "You know, for our records and stuff."

"You guys really want to learn about the wildlife around here, you should join the hunting party. Learn more in a day on the trail than you do sitting around that camp," he said amiably. "Maybe not the girls though. Might be a little tough going on them."

Despite the chilling subject matter, Xander had to smile at that.

* * *

Faith was back on the alcohol, that didn't mean Naomi wasn't still drinking too. She was coming up with more and more inventive ways to pass the spiked drinks because it was making the Watcher laugh, and the more the Watcher laughed the more Faith enjoyed herself and, damn, she deserved a night of enjoying herself with a hot chick.

Sure, she'd prefer that hot chick to be Buffy, but that wasn't happening, not this week anyhow. And if she had to pick a substitute… Naomi wasn't a bad one.

She had her arm on the back of her chair again, sharing stories, and Naomi was acting pretty encouraging, so Faith almost – no actually she really did – jump when Willow bounced into the chair on the other side of her.

"Drunk, Red?" she asked with a smile.

"No, just curious."

Faith knew she hadn't done anything wrong but that still made her feel on edge. "What about?"

"You and Buffy." Willow looked around her. "Hey, Nai! Having a good time?"

Naomi smiled. "Yes thank you. Yourself?"

Willow's head turned to smile wistfully at Kennedy for a second. "Yep. I never thought I'd get a second chance. Second chances are really lucky, aren't they Faith?" She was still smiling but her eyes were steely.

She held a hand up. "Hey, Willow, I don't know what B's told you but…."

"Just that you're on a break."

Faith relaxed. "There ya go then."

"But breaks aren't always a good idea. You know what happened to Ross and Rachel."

"Who?" Beside her Naomi started giggling and Faith turned to her. "Who she talking about?"

Willow's face dropped. "You really don't know?"

"Not a clue."

"Well, let's just say it didn't end well." She looked around Faith to Naomi again. "You don't want to be the Xerox girl do you?"

Naomi giggled again but then cleared her throat and forced herself to calm down. "We're just having a laugh," she promised. "I'm not gay."

Willow gave her an unconvinced look. "Really?"

Faith was still more confused than she ever liked to be and she was watching the conversation between them like a tennis match.

"Really. The only woman I have ever kissed is Buffy."

Faith's gaze swung Naomi's way real fast. "What?"

Naomi held both hands up in surrender, but she couldn't help chuckling again. "It was because of the lust spell. No feelings involved whatsoever, I promise you."

Faith glared at her for a moment before deciding, "In that case you owe me a kiss."

Naomi giggled some more – obviously the drink was starting to affect her – but didn't actually say no.

"How did you jump to that conclusion?" Willow asked.

Faith ignored the question. "Haywater said something interesting yesterday, Red."

"What was that?"

"She asked if we were friends. Double D's got this big thing about me making my own attachments here and the shrink asked if I had one with you."

Willow went to speak automatically but stopped herself. It made Faith feel nostalgic for a time when Willow couldn't help but say what was on her mind. Naturally she had always kept her at arm's length back then, but now, when she really needed her total honesty, she missed wasting that opportunity.

"Is this a trick question?" And the old Willow definitely wouldn't have asked that, at least not so cynically.

Faith thought about letting her off the hook, but that was just an excuse to hide from the truth. "No."

Willow nodded thoughtfully. "We're friends, Faith. I care about you, but…" There was always a but; Faith even already knew what this one was going to be. "…Buffy's my best friend. I'll always be there for you, providing you don't go homicidal again obviously 'cause then you're on your own, and I'll keep your confidences, but I won't watch if you wanna hurt Buffy."

Faith nodded; it hurt a little but she hadn't expected anything less.

"If it's any consolation I'll be mad if she tries to hurt you too."

Faith gave a short laugh. "Yeah, it is. Thanks, Willow." She took a deep breath. "But right now me and B are on a mutually agreed break and I can flirt with any straight girl I want, so if you don't mind."

Willow looked like she did but nodded and stood up anyway. "Just remember what you'll be losing if you let her go, Faith."

"Not planning on letting her go, Red. That decision'll always be hers."

Willow's nod was more confident this time and she smiled again.

"So you are flirting with me?" Naomi asked with a tipsy smile after she'd gone.

Faith laughed. "Yeah. But you're straight, so it don't count, right?"

"Right." Naomi grinned in a way that made both of Faith's eyebrows go up.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	5. Act 1:4

"What did she say?" Buffy grabbed Willow's arm before she'd barely skirted the large round table.

Willow looked alarmed and automatically said, "Nothing."

"You were talking for ten minutes and she said nothing?"

"Well…"

"Are you taking her side? I thought we were okay now!" It hadn't happened over night, but she and Willow had been steadily rebuilding their friendship since Thanksgiving.

"We are okay. And I didn't think there was a side. Faith said it was mutual."

"So she did mention me!"

"I mentioned you."

"And?"

"She loves you, Buffy, I'm sure of it. So maybe this break is a bad idea."

"It wasn't our idea!"

"Oh."

"Her stupid shrink came up with it. She thinks we're putting ourselves under too much pressure to be a couple so we should try not to be until New Year."

"Oh," Willow said again. "That's not actually a bad idea." Buffy glared at her. "You two are the two who went along with it!"

Buffy's glare softened. "I don't think we had much choice. We can't seem to. . ._get going_, yunno? If a break is what it takes to fix it… it's worth it, I think."

"Then why aren't you okay with it?"

"I was until I saw her all over Naomi tonight."

"Nai's straight."

Buffy gave a dark grin. "I thought I was until I fell for Faith."

"You kissed her first," Willow blurted.

Buffy frowned, "No, Faith kissed me first. In the basement. We were fighting about her taking the girls to the Bronze and then…" Now she was smiling again, it was hard to do anything else when she thought about that evening.

"No, you kissed Naomi first!"

Buffy came back to the present fast. "Who said that?"

"You did, before, and Naomi did. Just now."

Buffy's eyes narrowed but then she shrugged. "Lust spell. We all did things that day we shouldn't have." She gave Willow a pointed look but smiled to show she was teasing.

"I'm just saying if anyone introduced Naomi to the girl-love it was you."

"Thanks, Will," Buffy nodded thoughtfully and then shook her head. "That really doesn't help."

Willow grinned. "Sorry. So, are _you _going to take advantage of the break?"

Buffy was still watching the Slayer and Watcher laugh on the other side of the table, she wasn't even trying to hide it, but her face was calm. If she hadn't known better Willow would have assumed the sight of them didn't bother her at all.

"Do you really think she will?"

"I don't think so, but this is Faith we're talking about."

Buffy nodded and then turned away from them with a sigh. "That's exactly what I think too. And to answer your question, no I'm not. _But_ if we do break up by New Year then I'm thinking of ending my abstinence with a bang. Do you think I'll suit being a slut?"

Willow laughed, "You could just sleep with Faith, you know."

Buffy chuckled. "Nah, that'd be too easy."

* * *

"So now we know it's definitely a demon, what's our plan of attack?" Dawn asked in a business-like manner.

She was sitting with Reece, Giles and Robin in a small group set back from the rest of the table. Robin and Naomi hadn't been able to get access to the morgue the day before and had returned again that afternoon with some of Willow's best hacker work in their favour. Between the false documents she had provided them with and the fake school letters sent out to the Slayer's families over the summer, Willow was turning into a master forger. Dawn wondered if it was worth asking for a fake ID for Christmas.

Robin pulled a face, "Well, I'm not sure I'm qualified to say it's definitely a demon but whatever killed those children did definitely do it with its teeth. Very long, sharp teeth I'd say."

"You saw bite marks?" Giles asked.

"Not on all of them. Four were cleanly… chomped, but the third one we checked had...," he pulled another face, this time not so much indecisive as disgusted. "…chew marks. The wound was ragged compared to the others and below it the skin was punctured – very deeply. The holes were about two millimetres in diameter. My guess is the attacker didn't have a good grip on her and had to take a second bite."

"Right, thank you, Robin. I'm sure the photos Naomi took will prove you correct and help us to determine exactly what we are dealing with."

"It was a little girl?" Dawn felt sick and she held Reece's hand tighter while her other pressed to her mouth.

For some reason she had assumed all of the victims had been boys, not that that made it better but somehow knowing it was a little girl still made it worse.

"Are you okay?" Reece checked gently, ducking his head to meet her eyes.

Giles was also looking at her with grave concern and perhaps a little guilt. "I'm sorry, Dawn, I didn't think. Maybe you would prefer to step away from the table while we have this conversation."

The gross feeling in Dawn's stomach disappeared with her annoyance. "I can handle it."

He smiled. "I know, but you don't have to so why put yourself through it?"

She looked properly at Reece, trying to gauge if he felt the same way.

He misread it. "I don't want to listen to it either," he said with a sympathetic grin. "At least not tonight. So, if Mr. Giles doesn't mind filling me in tomorrow, why don't we go and dance some more?"

Giles looked caught between telling Reece he did mind him shirking his duties to dance and keeping Dawn happy.

Dawn saved him the angst. "I don't want to dance. I can handle it," she reasserted and turned to Robin, the only one who hadn't implied she couldn't. "So the little girl probably put up a struggle, unlike the little boys," she added with a sharp glance at Reece and Giles. "Good for her. Did you collect any samples?"

Robin gave her a _'good for you too'_ smile as he answered.

* * *

Kennedy slipped between Buffy and Willow, throwing a casual arm around both of them. She'd been dancing with Vi and Rona for a while but the distance from Willow had been too much.

It was funny - all those months of pining for her, convinced there was no way back, no easy way anyhow, had evaporated like the steam from the car windows the day before. It wasn't like it had never happened but now it was okay that it had. Kennedy had been falling in love before and then her heart was broken. Now it felt as if it had broken because the pieces weren't in the right place to begin with. They were like a broken bone that had never been set properly and you had to re-break it to make it perfect. It had sounded more romantic when she had whispered it to Willow in their bed the night before, she hoped.

"Wanna dance, baby?"

"Not right now, honey," Buffy said with a shrug. Kennedy laughed, Willow didn't. "Joke, Will."

"Go joke with your own girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend tonight."

"So, that doesn't mean you can't talk to her. How are you going to resolve anything if you don't talk for the next week?"

She might have had a point but Buffy just shrugged again anyway. "She doesn't want to talk to me right now."

"Well you can stay with us but…" Kennedy took her arm from Buffy's shoulder and pointed up at the mistletoe – it wasn't luck that she kept catching Willow under the white-berried plant, it was hung all over the bar. "I'm about to take this tradition _graphic._"

She now had both arms wrapped around Willow and as she went in for the kiss it was clear she wasn't planning on taking a break for some time.

She heard Buffy mutter, "Okay, okay, I'll go find Faith!" and gave her a thumbs up without breaking the kiss that Willow was enthusiastically returning.

Oh yeah, they were on the same page now.

* * *

Faith wasn't in the seat she'd occupied for most of the night, which was just typical when Buffy wanted to find her. She scanned the rest of their table and then the whole of the bar, what she could see of it anyway. There were so many bodies that she couldn't see very far in any direction and she wasn't tall enough to see over many heads.

As she began manoeuvring her way through the crowd, still searching, she passed Xander coming back the other way. "Seen Faith?"

"Heading outside for a smoke. When you get her can you both come back to the table? I'm calling a meeting."

"You're calling a meeting?"

He grinned at her. "What, do you think you're the only one allowed to do that?"

"Of course not." She just couldn't remember Xander ever doing it before. "What's it about?"

"The kid-eating demon."

Buffy groaned, "Do we really have to discuss that tonight?"

"It might be important." Even over the music she could hear the pleading note in his voice.

She reminded herself that having Xander back in the game was a good thing – even if did happen at an annoying time. She patted his arm as she squeezed past him. "Okay, just give us a minute or two."

Buffy had to wait in a line to get out of the main door. Some people in front were calling goodbye, while others were reaching into their pockets for cigarettes and lighters. Alex reluctantly allowed smoking in Barnies but tonight there were signs up at the bar and on the walls requesting people take it outside. Maybe he didn't want it around the kids or maybe he was scared that with all the people it was fire hazard. Buffy didn't know, she was just grateful she didn't have disgusting smoke stinging her eyes all night.

As she was trailing out of the door behind a couple of guys with unlit cigarettes already sticking out of their mouths, drinks in one hand as they pulled their coats closed against the frigid air, Buffy wished she'd thought to grab hers but she wasn't going to start this journey all over again. She was already half-wishing she hadn't gone looking for Faith in the first place, especially as Faith probably wouldn't be glad enough to see her to make it worth it.

Make that really not glad.

Naomi was huddled against the side of the tavern, being kept warm by Faith's body – which in itself didn't make sense seeing as out of the two of them Faith was the one without a coat. They were talking and laughing as they had in the bar but even though the green mist was threatening to descend over Buffy's eyes and make her furiously jealous, she could see that it didn't look like more than that. Their close proximity aside, their conversation didn't show any signs of intimacy.

In a way that was the proof she needed that Faith wouldn't take their 'break' too far – tonight anyway – and she even thought about heading back inside without saying anything. If the shrink was right and what they needed was space from each other, why mess it up for no reason?

Still, she had to let them both know there was a meeting about to start and that they were supposed to be there. If they chose to stay outside anyway, giggling and freezing their butts off, that was up to them.

Her heels – not really sensible in this weather but she hadn't thought about that when she'd bought them last week – made strange crunches in the snow but it was more or less drowned out by the music and no one noticed her approach.

Just a few feet away she saw Faith offer her half-smoked cigarette and Naomi reach up to take it.

"You're making her smoke!" she blurted.

The cigarette dropped from Faith's fingers as she turned in surprise and sizzled out on the snow.

"Hey, I don't have many left!"

"I didn't make you drop it." Buffy crunched the rest of the distance to them. This wasn't the friendly start she wanted for the conversation and she tried to make her voice calmer, until she saw the beer bottle in Naomi's hand. "You're letting her drink too?"

"B, keep your voice down!" Faith snapped as she snatched the bottle away from the young Watcher. "You wanna get us all kicked out of here?"

Buffy eyed the bottle – nearly all gone – and then Naomi, whose rosy cheeks probably didn't just stem from the cold, before glaring at Faith.

"No, but I'm thinking getting you kicked out might be a good thing."

"Screw you," Faith said mildly as she searched her pockets for another cigarette. "What do you want anyway?"

"I came to tell you we're having a meeting, but that hardly seems important now that I know you're out here feeding Naomi cigarettes and alcohol!" Buffy crossed her arms because she was cold but it felt suitably chastising too.

"I haven't had so much as a drag yet, Buffy," Naomi said with an impatient sigh.

"A what?"

"I haven't had a cigarette! I haven't smoked since I was in the fourth year, I just… fancied one tonight."

"You smoked when you were _eight_?" All of Buffy's preconceptions about the well-bred English Watcher started to unravel.

"No, I was fourteen!"

"Huh?"

Naomi shook her head. "I'm an adult, whether your stupid country wishes to recognise it or not!" she snapped before stealing the cigarette when it was halfway to Faith's lips. She took a long drag on it, started coughing and handed it back to Faith mid-splutter.

"Now I feel better," she said and burst into tears.

Buffy and Faith shared an awkward glance as Naomi cried.

"Now look what you did!" Buffy muttered.

"Me? She was fine 'til you came over," Faith shot back.

Buffy shook her head and stepped closer to Naomi, putting a hand on her back. "What's wrong?"

Naomi wailed louder, attracting attention from the other smokers outside, and fell into Faith's arms.

Faith's arms weren't ready for it and she dropped her cigarette…again! "Damn it!" She held her arms out to the side, letting Naomi hug her but doing nothing to return the gesture. "Now what, B?" she whispered.

Buffy was inclined to walk away and let Faith deal with this on her own, but then remembered she didn't hate Naomi.

She stepped closer and rubbed the Watcher's back soothingly. "What's wrong, Nai?"

"You…you…you." She stopped trying to speak until she'd had a big sniff. "I'm an adult!"

"No one's saying you ain't," Faith tried. "Been giving you booze all night, hhaven't I?"

"All night?" Buffy muttered.

Faith waved her into silence. "So what's really wrong?"

Naomi sniffed again. "I'm an adult, I'm on the assignment of a lifetime and…" She pulled away from Faith. She was still crying but gave her an apologetic look. "…and I'm freaking out because I'm spending Christmas away from my parents for the first time."

"Hey, so am I," Faith said sympathetically before ruining it by adding, "Gonna be the best thing about this Christmas."

Naomi gave an extra loud sob and pressed her hands over her face.

"Good going," Buffy muttered.

"What? I'm trying to help. I ain't had a decent Christmas with my folks since I was five. She should think herself lucky she's had eighteen of 'em."

If they'd been having this conversation quietly between themselves, Buffy knew her reaction would have been different, but there was Naomi – still crying – to think about and she came first right now.

"That's hardly the point. Just 'cause you had a crappy childhood doesn't mean Naomi isn't allowed to be upset."

"And just 'cause you had a perfect childhood doesn't mean you get to be all righteous about it," Faith countered.

"I'm not being righteous… and you don't have the monopoly on crappy holidays! The Christmas before my parents divorced, my Dad had to 'work late' and Mom got pissed and threw the turkey in the trash. Dawn and I had to eat Mac and Cheese off of our knees in the den while they argued in the kitchen all night. So get off your high horse already."

"Dawn was there?" Faith asked, her tone biting. "You sure about that?"

"Don't even go there!" Buffy warned.

The slayers glared at each other until Naomi gave a loud hiccup, bringing their attention back to her.

"Nai, don't let it get to you," Faith said, her tone halfway between understanding and irritated. "You only saw them a few weeks ago for Christsakes."

"I know but…"

"The holidays are different," Buffy said gently. "I do know how you feel. Since my Mom… passed away… Christmas hasn't been the same. And my Dad…" She sighed, feeling close to tears herself as she thought of it. "He invited Dawn for Thanksgiving without me and, yunno, I dealt. But then he… then he invited her for Christmas without me too!" She sucked a sob back in before it could escape. "Oh sure, there was the obligatory 'Ask Buffy if she wants to come along?' but if he really wanted me there wouldn't he ask me himself? Is a personal invite too much to ask for?"

"No, it's not," Naomi said and leant closer to hug her. "You deserve better."

"_Thank you._" Buffy stressed, hugging her back. "And if you really want to see your Mom and Dad I'm sure we can get you a last minute flight back to England. You shouldn't be away from them on the holidays."

Naomi pulled away. "Thank you."

"Uh, B, little matter of a demon eating kids in our town. It's kind of an all-hands-on-deck sitch, ain't it? Don't think Giles is gonna go for you sending one of his watchers home right now, 'specially when he's only got two of 'em."

"Oh, right, yeah that." Buffy looked at Naomi regretfully. "Maybe you could call them a lot Christmas Day instead?"

Naomi nodded and sniffed away the last of her tears. "I understand. Duty first."

"It's kind of the way of it," Buffy agreed. "I know it sucks."

Naomi nodded again. "Assignment of a lifetime," she muttered to herself before looking up at Buffy and Faith again. "I shouldn't be that homesick, right? I have Craig here and Uncle Rubear."

"And the rest of us," Buffy promised, rubbing the Watcher's arm.

"Indeed. I had better go inside. I think I'm about to be sick.

Buffy pulled a face. "Do you want Faith to come and hold your hair back?"

"Hey!" Faith griped.

"What? You got her drunk."

"I'll be fine."

They watched her go and then turned to each other.

"So…" Buffy began, still not sure it was wise to flout the shrink's advice. "I know what we agreed, but that's the thing, we never actually agreed anything."

Faith sighed, running a hand back through her hair. "You're gonna say we need to talk."

"Don't you think we should?"

"Probably."

They stood in silence.

"Wanna go to this meeting instead?" Faith asked, "And deal with this awkward crap later?"

Buffy nodded, "Definitely."

* * *

They were late but Faith didn't think she could be blamed seeing as that she'd only heard about the meeting two minutes before. The group hadn't waited for the senior slayers to start either, which seemed a little off; not like much happened without their say-so… okay, Buffy's say-so; her own was still kinda overlooked unless Buffy backed her up.

Damn, that was annoying. Not relevant right now though. Faith sipped from her beer and listened to Xander speak.

"So all the locals think it's a pack of wolves and I'm no expert but I think that means werewolf."

"But there hasn't been a full moon for two weeks," Willow said, sounding worried about it all the same.

"That's a good point," Xander conceded. His enthusiasm deflated for a moment but then he brightened again. "What about Hellhounds?"

Giles pondered for a moment. "They'd certainly have the jaw strength to bite a child in half."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Buffy nod. "And they could be mistaken for a wolf if you didn't see it up close."

"So do we think someone's breeding them to set on the resorts?" Willow asked.

"We don't know anything for sure, Willow," Giles said. "We still need to do more research."

Faith finally joined in the conversation angrily. "And while we spend a week researching the ins and outs of these demons more kids die."

"You're right." Giles pondered some more and then sat forward with a determined look. "There are six resorts in the Boudenver district. Five of them have already suffered fatalities a few days apart."

"So you think we should stake out the sixth," Kennedy said, obviously supporting the plan.

"I do."

"Then let's get some of the girls in there tomorrow."

"It won't be as simple as that," Xander said. "These places are elite. We have you girls scale the walls to get in there and you're gonna be spotted. All fine if you can find and kill the hellhound – or whatever it is – right away, but you're not gonna get a chance to wait around for it."

Giles nodded. "That's true. And it might be a day or two before the demon shows itself again."

"So we need a team who can stay on the inside for a few days without attracting too much attention," Robin surmised.

As they were all thinking about it Alex came over to collect empty glasses. "You guys having fun?" Everyone except Faith said yes, some more enthusiastically than others. "So can I get you another round?"

After orders were placed – Xander had his priorities – he casually asked, "Hey, Al, what's Snow Dunes like?"

Alex shifted the glasses in his hand, settling in for a chat. "The ski resort?"

"Yeah, Willow's got some friends coming to visit after the holidays but we don't really have the room for them back at the house."

Alex focused on Red. "What kind of friends?"

"Does it matter if they aren't straight?" Kennedy growled, forgetting it was a charade.

Alex looked uncomfortable and answered in a rush. "No, I just meant it's not a party resort. Families only really. So if it's a couple – of any gender," he added hastily, "that'd be a nice place to stay, but if you have a group of friends coming you might wanna suggest Tall Fir. That's where all the kids go for Spring Break."

Faith chuckled. "Kids actually come here on Spring Break?"

"Yeah," Alex said, his voice was as mild as ever but he looked pissed off with her comment. "If we've still got snow anyway."

Buffy groaned, "We'll still have snow by Spring Break? Okay, who's up for Florida that week?"

Several people, including Faith, put their hands up.

"Okay, thanks Alex." Willow gave him a big smile. "I'll see if I can book them into Tall Fir."

Alex smiled back at her, happy to help. "I'll get your drinks."

"Thanks, Al," Xander said as the deputy sheriff left the table. "Okay, so that rules out us putting a bunch of slayers in there, right?"

"Yes," Giles agreed. "It will have to be a couple if we don't want to attract attention." He thought for a moment and then addressed Willow. "I think you and Kennedy are our best option."

"Um…" Willow began.

"No way," Kennedy said before her girl could add any more. "My step-dad's already bought our plane tickets. They're expecting us."

"I'd forgotten you were going home," Giles admitted. "But still, this is a rather urgent situation."

Kennedy shook her head. "No."

"It would mean an all expenses paid stay in a top notch resort," Giles wheedled.

"And not to brag, but it won't be a patch on what our stay will be like at my house." Kennedy hesitated though and looked at Red, putting a hand on her thigh. "Unless you wanna do this." When Willow didn't seem to know how to answer, she added, "I'm okay if you do. We can probably postpone the tickets for a few weeks."

Willow glanced at Buffy and Xander. Faith saw them both mouth 'Go.'

"Really?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, you deserve a break," Buffy said.

"And there are other couples who can do this," Xander said.

"Like who?" Alison asked.

"We could go," Dawn said eagerly to Reece. "We're a couple."

Reece's eyes lit up too and after smiling at Dawn he turned to Giles, "All expenses paid you said, sir?"

Giles frowned but before he could say anything Buffy butted in.

"Hell no."

"Why not?" Dawn whined.

"Because you only just turned seventeen a couple of weeks ago."

"And you still haven't given me a birthday present! This could be it."

"A romantic weekend away with your boyfriend? No, I don't think so."

"But we're already sleeping…" Dawn stopped talking with a pout when Buffy put her fingers in her ears and started making 'laalaalaa' noises.

Faith tried her best not to laugh.

"It wouldn't have been viable anyway, Dawn," Giles said, trying to console her. "There has to be at least one slayer in the couple to slay the demon."

"So that rules us out too," Craig said to Andrew, disappointed.

Andrew looked relieved. Faith still couldn't make him out. On the surface he came across as a coward but he'd willingly fought beside them in Sunnydale. She considered herself a pretty good judge of character but she had to admit she couldn't put her finger on Andrew's yet.

While she was musing on the blonde geek she'd missed something, only being dragged back into the conversation by Buffy yelling, even louder than before, "Hell no!"

"You're the only other couple, Buffy," Giles was saying calmly.

"It makes sense," Xander added.

"We're not a couple this week!"

"What did I miss?" Faith asked Kennedy, the closest person to her.

Kennedy grinned. "You and Buffy are getting an all expenses paid Christmas vacation to Snow Dunes."

"Fuck that!" she blurted.

"See!" Buffy pointed at her. "That's how good a couple we are right now."

"You do not have to be a good couple," Giles said. "You just have to pretend to be."

"This is ridiculous," Buffy said angrily. "If it's just pretend send Miranda and Craig together."

"Because that'll be convincing," Kennedy chuckled.

Buffy glared at her. "More convincing than Faith and I will be right now."

"Thanks, B."

Buffy turned to her. "You think this is a good idea?"

"Not really, no."

"I'm afraid, Buffy, I am going to have to insist," Giles said.

"Insist my butt! I'm not doing it."

"Think of the children, Buffy," Willow said quietly. "Someone has to stop these demon-dogs and you and Faith are probably the only people who can do it."

Buffy looked down at the table and Faith knew that she knew she had lost. When Buffy looked at her again, helplessly, she gave a little shrug.

"We can probably ignore each other there just as easily as we could ignore each other at home."

Buffy nodded and then looked at Giles again. "We need separate rooms!"

"I'm afraid if you're posing as a couple that won't be possible."

"Damn," Buffy muttered vehemently.

Faith verbally echoed her but inside she was laughing. This was gonna get interesting!

[End of Act One]


	6. Act 2:1

Sorry for the long delay between updates again. I've been distracted but I'm not any more :)

* * *

**Act Two**

****The car sped along the winter roads as fast as the slushy lanes would allow, which wasn't very fast. The five people in the car were divided on the issue of whether Giles was being sensible or over-cautious. He was more than happy to accept this, it being preferable to Buffy and Faith complaining about having to be in the car in the first place.

"You're a Brit, G! You've seen snow before," Faith griped from the passenger seat.

"Not usually quite this much. And us _Brits _have more sense than to drive in conditions such as these."

He had both hands firmly in the ten and two positions on the steering wheel and his eyes were glued to where the white land met the grey sky in front. It wasn't snowing at the moment but the Weather Girl had promised more that afternoon and the last thing he wanted was to be travelling these country roads in the blizzard-like snow storms they'd been having for the past week.

"The conditions are fine," Kennedy promised, the only relaxed person in the car as she sat in the backseat between Buffy and Willow, holding Willow's hands to give them extra warmth. "And Xander put the snow tires on last week so you can put your foot down a little if you wanted to."

"I don't think that's necessary." Willow was looking nervously out of the side window at the road. "It looks kinda slippy out there."

"Long as we get to the airport on time," Kennedy said easily.

"We're not even gonna get to the damn airport until it's time to fly back at this rate," Faith complained.

"That's fine by me," Buffy piped up from behind him. "I'd rather face icy roads than icy sky."

"Flying's safe," Kennedy promised her. "There's like a one in a hundred thousand chance of dying on a plane but a two hundred and fifty to one chance of dying in a road traffic accident."

"That's good," Buffy said. "Keep saying things like that."

"No don't!" Willow said as the car skidded slightly to one side as Giles pulled up at a stop junction.

"Would you prefer her to say there's a good chance your plane is gonna crash, Red?"

"No! Can we maybe just talk about something else?"

After checking both ways and finding no traffic approaching, Giles pulled away again. "You're perfectly safe, Willow, I assure you, but now probably would be a better time to discuss your itinerary rather than impending death."

"What's to discuss?" Kennedy asked. "We're getting a flight out of Cleveland to La Guardia. My Step-Dad will send a car to meet us at the airport and then it's just ten days of eating, sleeping and opening presents til we make the return journey."

"I was referring to Buffy and Faith's itinerary."

"Oh that."

"You've told us so many times already, G, that I could recite it backwards!" Faith groaned.

"Go on then," he encouraged. For all that he had told them over and over he was still convinced that they had spent more time sniping about it between themselves than listening.

"You pick us up from Snow Dunes, we pack, we slay the demon. . ."

Giles grit his teeth against his smile. "Not in reverse chronological order, Faith. Please begin at the beginning."

Buffy took over, sounding as irritated by it as Faith. "You drop us off at Cleveland Hopkins. We fly out at ten-fifteen to the Buffalo-Niagara airport in Buffalo. We spend a couple of hours doing the touristy thing at Niagara Falls before we head back to the airport at three. . ."

"At two," he corrected. "You have to check in for your return flight at three."

"Why are you going to Niagara Falls anyway?" Willow asked. "I thought the demon was staying at one of the Boudenver resorts."

"It is, but we're undercover," Faith said, grinning for the first time since getting into the car.

"Giles thinks we'll look more like real guests if we arrive via the airport."

"There's a welcoming committee apparently," he said, slowing down to accommodate more bends in the road. "It's all part of the Christmas extravaganza at the resort. All of the guests booked in this week get special treatment and Buffy and Faith would immediately stand out if they weren't among them."

"So Giles told us to pick a place an hour out of Cleveland," Faith said.

"And I've always wanted to see Niagara Falls. When I was younger I always thought it sounded so romantic," Buffy added wistfully.

Beside him, Faith cracked her neck and turned to stare out of the passenger window – probably not quite as casually as she had hoped.

"And after you've seen it you will. . ." he prompted.

Buffy sighed, "Get on _another _plane to come back to Cleveland. Meet the welcome committee. . ."

"Ride on a bus with a bunch of Christmas worshippers," Faith butted in. "Check into our room. . ."

"It's actually a log cabin, not just a room," Buffy said, and Giles finally detected a slightly more upbeat tone to her voice too.

"Ooh, at least that will be romantic," Willow said.

"Yeah," Buffy and Faith said together and the upbeat tone was once more gone from both of them.

"This really is wasted on you two," Kennedy chuckled, adding to Willow, "Maybe we should have postponed our trip east."

"No, I'm looking forward to it!" Willow said brightly. "Except. . ."

"Except?"

"Except. . . Your parents, are they. . .? I mean, you went back there when we were, like, broken up and, well, now I'm going with you and. . . Are they gonna hate me for making you miserable?"

Kennedy laughed, "No, Will, they're gonna love you because I do."

Giles did his best to tune out the sound of them kissing and wished he hadn't refused to turn on the radio now. Luckily it only lasted a moment.

"Actually, I should warn you," Kennedy continued, "they're really gonna love you."

"Why do you have to warn me about that?"

"Well it's just my Mom we have to worry about really. My Dad'll just be normal 'cause he's too busy to get that invested and my sister is. . . well , sixteen and self-involved is probably the best way to describe her." Kennedy chuckled and then paused, sucking in a breath, "But my Mom, she's kind of a special case."

"What do you mean 'special case'?" Willow asked worriedly.

Kennedy laughed again, "I don't think psychologists have a word for it yet."

"Is she not well?" Giles asked, concerned. Kennedy's late Watcher had made no mention of mental illness in the family in his diary.

"No, just. . ."

A deer bolted from one side of the road to the other just feet in front of the car and Giles had to slam on the brakes much too harshly for this weather. The deer crossed safely, jumping gracefully over the hedgerow but no one was able to appreciate its beauty.

Giles cursed, Buffy yelled, Faith whooped and Willow screamed as the car slipped and skidded a hundred and eighty degrees; coming to rest facing the wrong way and with its back tires in the ditch that bordered the road.

* * *

"I don't think I'm ever going to warm up again." The airport was probably fine temperature wise but Buffy was still wearing her thick coat and gloves, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"We were only outside five minutes," Faith said, rolling her eyes.

"I know what you mean, Buffy," Willow was shivering too.

Now Kennedy rolled her eyes, more playfully than Faith had. "Baby, you didn't even get out of the car!"

"No, but I had the window open to shout encouragement."

"You could have just used magick to lift us out of that ditch," Buffy said. "Then none of us would have had to get out!"

"I can't use magick for personal gain, Buffy, you know that."

"Seems there's sometimes a fine line between personal gain and greater good." Faith dropped her carry-on luggage – her only luggage – and stretched her arms above her head. "What if it had taken longer to lift the car out and we'd missed our flight to Buffalo?"

"You'd have had to hide out here for the afternoon before you met your welcome party?"

"That's a great idea!" Buffy's eyes lit up, she didn't want to get on one plane today, let alone two. "Why didn't Giles think of that? Can we do that?"

Faith shrugged, "If you want. But thought you wanted to see Niagara Falls."

She really did and some of her enthusiasm faded for Plan B. Although it was true; she'd rather see it in the summer when they could drive there and it was warmer.

"Changed your mind about it being all romantic now?" Faith asked in a way that made Buffy's lip curl – and not in a smile.

"Actually I do want us to go to Niagara Falls. . .so I can push you over the edge!"

"Aww, babe, you do that every day."

"Are they calling us?" Willow asked in a hurry. "Can you hear them calling our flight?"

"No," Kennedy said, laughing, "but I think we should make our way to the gate anyway before their bad mojo gets all over us."

Willow nodded. "Me too! Have fun, guys!"

Buffy accepted and returned a quick, tight hug from Willow. "Stay safe, Will. Enjoy New York. Remember everything so I can visit vicariously through you later."

"You too. Have a great time. Try not to get eaten by any hellhounds or anything, 'kay?"

"I'll do my best."

When Willow released her Buffy stepped back, watching as her best friend hesitated over what to do about Faith. The other Slayer seemed happy to just give a wave but Willow felt different and put her arms around Faith's shoulders in the most self-conscious looking hug ever.

"What'cha doing, Red?"

"What friends do."

"Huh." Faith patted Willow's back twice in a gesture of camaraderie before claiming back her personal space.

"Have a nice time," Buffy said to Kennedy while the other two were being weird.

"You too."

They went to hug but glanced at Willow at the same time – she was still uncomfortable with their friendship – and settled for grinning at each other.

"Holiday high-five instead?" Kennedy asked, raising her hand.

"Merry Christmas," Buffy said, slapping her palm.

Then the gate for La Guardia really was being called and the foursome parted with final shouts of _Happy Holidays_ and _Your present is under the treeeee!_

"Can't remember when we last high-fived," Faith said, picking her bag back up and turning to figure out which direction their own gate was in.

"It's gonna be a long week."

"I wasn't trying to start a fight!" Faith said impatiently.

"I know! I just meant it's going to be a long week. Maybe romance might be out of the question but we could try and start it amicably." Buffy raised her palm to Faith.

Faith looked at it and Buffy saw her own hand twitch in response but then she hefted her bag over her shoulder and started to walk away. "Maybe we should just start it by trying to catch our flight on time."

"Okay, now you're trying to start a fight!"

Faith chuckled, "Maybe I am."

Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed as she followed her.

* * *

"It's busy, some might say too busy," Xander said as he stood surveying the crowds by the entrance to the mall.

The others were excited and oblivious as they scampered off in search of last minute gifts.

"Did you hear me?" he called. "I said: Some might say too busy!"

"What did you expect, Mr Harris, it's the holidays," Miranda said, one of the few people he'd ferried over here who had bothered to stay beside him.

"Call me Xander," he said absently, trying and failing to keep track of where Dawn and Reece had run off to.

"Okay," Miranda giggled.

He'd agreed to drive a bunch of them out to the mall on the outskirts of Cleveland because Giles was busy taking Willow and the others to the airport. It had never been a thrilling prospect, but he didn't trust Reece driving the truck in this weather, and besides, the beer was cheaper here than it was at the village store. He hadn't expected it to be _so _busy though. Even at Christmas, in Sunnydale you'd been able to see space between the shoppers.

"I'm in charge! I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you all. I can't do that here!"

"You can keep an eye on me, Xander," Miranda said, then giggled again, and then blushed, and then quickly said, "Actually I have to go in here!" She darted off so quickly he didn't have to time to see where 'here' was.

"Huh?"

"She has a crush on you," Alison said as she stepped up beside him, her tone implying Miranda was oh-so-immature because of it.

"Really?" Xander asked gleefully but then shook himself out of it. "No, that's wrong!"

Alison laughed, "Why's it wrong?"

"She's just a kid." He smiled. "Nice to finally have a slayer have a crush on me though."

"I thought you and Faith had thing once?"

Xander grimaced, "The only crushing there involved my windpipe. And other bodily parts, I guess. . . but you're not old enough for me to tell you about that! And anyway. . ."

Alison laughed again. "Want me to be your seeing-eye dog through this particular crush?" she asked, pointing at the crowds. "Wait, was that offensive?"

"Kinda, but to you as much as to me. Lead the way, Lassie."

"Cool, well I say we get a hot chocolate first, 'cause I almost froze my girl parts off in the back of that truck."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said as he followed her through the mass of shoppers to the nearest café. "I'd have used the jeep but it's low on diesel."

"No problem. The cold only makes me stronger."

Xander chuckled, "That sounds like something I would say."

* * *

"So here it is." Faith gestured out in front of her. "Everything you hoped for?"

They were standing by a guardrail overlooking the falls and it was impressive –although perhaps smaller than Buffy expected. Now she could see why everyone looked at her the same way. It would be more impressive though if she could stop shivering for two minutes and enjoy the scenery.

"Almost. You know, a good girlfriend would lend me her coat."

"Probably a good thing I'm not your girlfriend right now then, huh? Wouldn't want to freeze to death just so some chick could look at a waterfall."

Buffy huffed, not prepared to argue when Faith had a good point. Besides, Faith's jacket looked hardly enough to keep anyone warm. The black denim was tough but ended at her waist and the only concession to the fact that it was winter was the fake-fur lined collar. Next to Buffy in her ski boots, thick puffer jacket, scarf and woolly hat she looked very unseasonably dressed. She wasn't even wearing gloves! Buffy should probably offer her coat instead. Not that that was happening.

Trying not to sound petulant, she said, "Look, let's just go if you're not appreciating it."

"Wait a minute, B."

She stopped walking away and looked back, "What?"

"Just look at the falls," Faith said, and when Buffy did, she stepped up behind her.

Buffy finally smiled as arms curled around her stomach and Faith's body pressed to the length of her back. Her shivers died instantly as if the only reason she had been cold in the first place was due to a lack of Faith.

"Better?" Faith murmured by her ear, the word almost lost in the pounding rush of water in front of them.

"Yes." She snuggled back against Faith.

"Don't get too cosy, we're just friends here," Faith said before kissing the side of her head.

Buffy laughed softly. "I'm good with that. . .for now."

They stood that way in silence for some time, staring out over the drop to the waterfalls. The observation point was close enough that Buffy could feel the rising mist on her exposed cheeks and nose; it was cold but with Faith holding her tight from behind it was refreshing rather than freezing. The low clouds were breaking up as the day wore on – this part of the world wouldn't be getting any more storms today – and sunlight made the snow on the banks bright and Christmas card-y and the water droplets hanging in the air sparkled and made rainbows.

Buffy wrapped her arms over Faith's, gloves pressing over Faith's hands to keep them snug and warm and against her stomach.

"This is what I was hoping for," she said, breaking their silence in more ways than the present one.

"In that case," Faith snuggled her face closer to the side of Buffy's and breathed her in, although she was probably mostly breathing scarf. "Now that you got the full experience, any chance we can get out of here?"

It wasn't really the response she had been hoping for but she schooled herself not to show it. After all, coming here had always been her idea. Faith's suggestion had been to fly to Milwaukee and spend the afternoon drinking in the airport bar. Which probably would have been cheaper _and_ warmer.

She had to ask though, "Don't you think this is even a little romantic?"

"What I think is that I haven't been able to feel my feet for ten minutes and I'm pretty sure my ass is about to fall off with frost bite."

Buffy chuckled, "Now, if you'd said your hand I'd have made you stay out here all afternoon, but I kinda like your ass where it is so. . ."

"So we have two options: either you do something here to warm my ass up, or we head some place warmer – like Mexico warmer."

"Want to go and get a coffee somewhere? If you like I can pour it over your ass."

Faith laughed as she let go and stepped back. "Kinky, I like it."

"Correction: I'll look the other way while you pour it over your own ass."

"Damn, and I finally thought we were getting somewhere," Faith said as she walked away.

"Faith!"

Faith held her hands up innocently but didn't look back. "Not starting, B, just saying."

Faith 'just saying' was Faith starting, and Faith deliberately saying 'just saying' in that passive aggressive way was also Faith starting. But of course, if Buffy said anything then she would be the one 'starting' and then. . .

Grumbling under her breath the whole time, Buffy followed her through the snow to the coffee shop near the bus terminal.

* * *

Xander carried two mugs of cocoa through the crowded café to a table at the back. Somehow it was even busier in here than the rest of the mall, as if every shopper had decided to take a break the moment he'd headed in. Alison had offered to get the drinks but he didn't want her to think he wasn't capable of doing something so simple. He already had the impression that the younger slayers pitied him and for a while he hadn't cared enough to let it bother him. Now it did.

"Hey, watch it, asshole!"

"Sorry!" Xander apologised even though he was pretty sure he had been the bumpee rather than the bumper and then winced as hot chocolate splashed over his hand. "Owie!"

The man he'd collided with, now visible to him, was middle-aged, short, skinny and thinking Xander weak because of his instant apology, obviously saw an opportunity to best the bigger man.

He started to give a lengthy, curse-riddled lecture on the etiquette of not bumping into people but as he turned he saw the eye-patch and his words stalled on his tongue. "Uh. . .Shit!"

"You should see it without the patch," Xander quipped uncomfortably and carried on edging his way towards Alison.

"Everything okay?" she asked as he set the drinks down, keeping the spilled one for himself.

"Yeah, just a misunderstanding." He sat down opposite her and used a napkin to dry the back of his hand.

She had obviously heard everything. "Want me to go and teach him some understanding," she asked, flexing her fist.

"I think he learned his lesson."

Alison sipped from her mug and then made a face as if it had burned her tongue. "You get that a lot?"

"Bumping into people? No, it's usually inanimate objects. Aside from the Christmas Ball I haven't really ventured into crowded spaces much since my. . . it happened."

"I meant the way he looked at you when he saw your eye-patch."

"Oh." Xander looked down at his mug. When he looked back up, she was looking at him intently. He shrugged. "Boudenver's small and most people know me now. When we first arrived, just before you did, the guys, they all asked me what happened, so, naturally I lied, but they were just curious, they weren't fazed." He smiled again. "The women mostly looked and then looked away again real fast. Now if they see me they talk to this ear." He touched his right ear, furthest from his bad eye. "The kids were a different story! Did I tell you about the time they chased me?" he asked, warming to his theme.

"Yeah," Alison chuckled, "but you can tell me again if you like?"

That threw up warning signs. Did she have a crush on him too? Because that was inappropriately awesome. Or was this more pity? Let Xander have his stories because that's all he has left now?

"Why are you so interested in all this anyway?"

"Dude, it's funny! You got terrorised by a pack of eight year olds!"

So it wasn't pity then. Probably not a crush either. Just good old fashioned teenage insensitivity at play here.

Seeing his smile didn't meet his eye, she added, "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. I'm just interested because I'm interested."

"Why?"

"I've been on the end of a few awkward stares myself," she said, shrugging again and sipping carefully from her mug.

"You?" He looked her over, trying not to give off any dirty old man vibes. She was slim, blonde, not stunning but definitely pretty. He had her pegged as more of a tomboy than the other two girls but she had a confidence that could have boys lining the block to see her smile. "Believe me, I bet those stares aren't for the reason you think they are."

She smiled graciously but hid behind her mug. "Oh believe me, they are."

Something about the way she said it made him pause with his mug halfway to his mouth. He was about to ask a leading question when Rona and Miranda came running up to their table.

"There you freaking are!" Rona sounded out of breath, which was a rare thing for a slayer.

"We have a shoplifting problem!" Miranda squealed.

Xander stood up fast. "Dawn?"

"What? No!" Rona snapped. "Vi!"

"Vi?" Alison started laughing.

Xander almost did the same because it was ridiculous. "What did she take?"

"Nothing!" Miranda said, confusing him. "One of the elves crawled into her bag and fell asleep and now she's being accused of trying to steal him!"

"Elves?" Xander scratched beneath his eye-patch elastic. "Say what now?"

Rona slapped his arm to get him to focus – as if he wasn't already doing that to the extreme – and Miranda grabbed his hand to drag him from the café.

* * *

Giles took his cardboard cup of tea from the vendor and sailed out into the sea of library shelves. He wasn't altogether comfortable with being in amongst the books with a beverage in his hand but everyone else was doing it – the coffee shop was right there in the library! – and he couldn't deny he needed it to warm up.

The earlier detour into the ditch had broken one of the car's rear lights and a brake light and, already leery of driving in the bad weather, he had decided to spend the money to get it fixed right away rather than drive home and risk a ticket or an accident on the slippery country roads.

He'd found a garage in the city centre easily enough – his choice based on what was open so close to Christmas rather than the price – and had left the car there on the promise that it would be fixed by three that afternoon.

That had been just before eleven and he had spent the first hour shopping – buying the slayers gifts as part of their year-end bonus – and mailing some last minute cards to acquaintances in England. They wouldn't arrive until after the Holiday now but so much of his time was taken up with Council correspondence he barely had time to write a grocery list for himself these days, let alone personal mail.

Still left with hours to wait he had wandered into the library out of habit, but once there he knew what he should do. Now, holding his cup away from anything important it might leak on, he asked the assistant where the local history books were kept.

They were in a far corner of the ground floor and he was pleased to see he was completely alone there. Setting his cup down on the nearest table, he quickly went to work, easily lost in the joy of research.

Quickly he was able to narrow his search from Ohio to the Cleveland area which left him with only four books to go through and he took them back to the table. He checked all of the indexes first, marking down page numbers and chapter titles in the notebook he always kept in his pocket. In three out of the four books there were mentions of winter abductions and deaths. He discarded the fourth book for the time being and focused his reading on the pages he'd noted.

There were several mentions of wolves coming over the border from Canada. Also several that said bears – travelling east because of the hard winters – were responsible. The rational part of him wondered why these supposed killer bears weren't busy hibernating around Christmas, while the side of his mind more prone to worry hoped that Buffy and Faith didn't have to deal with a sleuth of formidable werebears.

He read on, finding theories that the perpetrators were instead human. There were some eye-witnesses apparently – although their number was few and vague – but definitely something human-shaped had been witnessed. That didn't necessarily rule out some species of werewolf, or a werebear, if it had been dark.

_1953. Ski resort closed down after 8 children go missing. All assumed victims of the wolf and/or bear attacks._

_1968. Woman sees her son led from the path by a resort employee dressed as elf. Reported missing 3 hours later. All park employees questioned but no arrests. Boy never seen again. _

_1975. Little girl (7) dragged from a junior ski slope by a __bright red wolf__ ?_

_1987. 2 boys abducted from the area behind their family's chalet. Last seen feeding an injured robin with breadcrumbs. No sign of a struggle. _

_1996. Dismembered bodies of two missing children found in the west woods. Evidence of gnawing on the bones and signs of wolf habitation._

As Giles made notes he reached for his tea. It was lukewarm now but he didn't notice.

The most recent account he could find had occurred three years ago, in 2000. Again involving a resort employee being questioned by police after a young girl had failed to return from a visit to the Christmas grotto. He'd been released without charge due to a lack of evidence and when the little girl's body was finally discovered the following spring the employee had disappeared.

When forensic proof emerged that the death had been caused by animal bite the search was dropped and the case, like so many others, had been closed.

Giles shut the book and sat back, finding the details of so many child deaths harrowing. There seemed to be so little that connected them all – only Christmas and the local resorts featured in every horrible story. And, if he assumed that all of the deaths and abductions had a single perpetrator, he was inclined to think it wasn't a pack of hell hounds after all. They were single-minded creatures, intent only on killing their prey; they would not have the cognitive skills or the patience to lure a child away before attacking.

He had to inform Buffy and Faith that they would not be facing the foe they expected, but he couldn't even guess right now what they might be dealing with instead. A glance at his watch told him it was nearly time to pick up the car but also that his slayers would still be in Buffalo. It would be hours before he could contact them to tell them anything at all.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon... no, honestly._


	7. Act 2:2

The departure lounge at La Guardia was much busier than Cleveland-Hopkins. Willow was worried she was going to lose Kennedy in the crowd as she darted this way and that looking for a guy holding her name up on a card, grumbling about how he should have been waiting by Customs for them.

At least Kennedy was carrying both of their suitcases so she only had to manage her small carry on bag. Still she felt guilty and annoyed every time she bumped someone with it. It would be so easy just to say a few words under her breath and clear them a path, but she resisted grumpily.

Eventually they'd covered the whole area and finished up by the doors. A fan was blowing hot air down on them but it was still freezing every time the automatic doors opened, which was every few seconds.

"Should we just get a cab?"

"It's a two hour drive, babe, and as much as I'd like to dump that fare on my dad for leaving us stranded he'd probably just take it out of what's left of my allowance." Kennedy dropped a suitcase to pull her phone from her pocket but before she could dial a number someone was calling to them.

Willow looked at the girl coming closer, pushing her way through the crowds as if they weren't there. She was short and blonde with skin the same rich colour as Kennedy's and she was obviously in a huff.

"Didn't you hear me calling? I've been chasing all over this damn place after you."

Kennedy turned, putting her phone away. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too. You walked right by me at Customs! After I waited like an hour for you!"

"You dyed you hair," Kennedy said.

"And so suddenly you don't recognise me? Dad refused to get me a limo for the winter formal."

"Because you dyed your hair?" Willow blurted, confused.

"No, that's _why_ I dyed my hair. I take it you're Willow. You've got a weird name by the way."

Willow smiled weakly. "I know. Um, sorry I don't know if you have a weird name or not."

"I don't. And from that I'm guessing Ken hasn't even mentioned me before."

"No, she has . . . probably." Willow turned to Kennedy for some help.

The slayer sighed. "This is my little sister, my little half-sister: Roxanne."

"Oh!" Willow beamed at her. "It's nice to finally meet you, Roxanne."

"You too," the girl said with only half the feeling of Willow's greeting. "And it's Roxy. Come on, I've been in here waiting so long the car's probably been towed."

Kennedy picked up the suitcases again and nodded for Roxy to lead the way.

Roxy gave her a strange look as she picked up both bags. "Are you going for Butch of the Year or something?"

Kennedy shrugged. "They're not heavy. And you never said what you were doing here. Where's James? What car do you have?"

"Mom needed James to take 'the ladies' home before he picked you up and I convinced her he wouldn't make it on time." Roxy grinned and twirled some keys around her finger. "She couldn't stand the thought of her first born being stranded here like some orphan so she lent me her Porsche."

"No way! You've only had your licence three months! You stole her keys didn't you?"

As the sisters talked and bickered too fast for Willow to keep up, she walked behind them, still bumping into people as they left the terminal and headed for the parking garage.

She didn't really know what to make of Roxy yet. When she had imagined Kennedy's little sister she'd thought of her as sweet and ingratiating, kind of like Dawn had been a few years before. Her first impression was nothing like that; in fact this teenager kind of scared the inner-nerd that still lived deep down in Willow the same way the popular kids had in high school. It was too early to mark her down as Cordelia-esque though, she decided. Maybe Roxy was just grumpy from having to wait so long for them, or maybe she had pms.

At the car, and it was a Porsche – a black one, all sleek and shiny – Kennedy offered to let her sit up front but Willow just shook her head and climbed into the back. The roads here probably weren't as bad as the ones outside Boudenver but only being able to see the verges was preferable to being able to see the slippery expanse of asphalt in front of the car.

"Mom's been dying to meet you," Roxy's eyes were on the slow moving traffic ahead as they drove towards the link road.

There was something in the way she said it that didn't sound altogether reassuring. Willow was sure she must just be being paranoid now though, reading something bad into it because of Roxy's less than enthusiastic greeting.

"Rox!" Kennedy said, touchily.

Okay, maybe she wasn't totally paranoid.

"What? Am I wrong?" Roxanne looked in the rear view mirror to catch Willow's eyes. "Mom loves Kennedy's girlfriends."

"She does? That's nice." In a teasing tone, she added, "How many girlfriends do you have exactly?"

"Just you," Kennedy promised.

"Oh, I didn't mean she has more than one at a time. I mean, there's only so much sex you can have in a day, right Ken?"

"When we stop at the next red light I'm going to punch you," Kennedy said, her teeth obviously gritted.

"Ooh, I'm real scared," Roxanne taunted, reminding Willow that Kennedy's family didn't know she was a slayer.

That felt kind of weird. It was a long time since she'd had been around people that didn't know about slayers and magick. She would have to be careful not to mention anything that would sound crazy to them. Hopefully it might even help her self-discipline to be around regular people for a while.

"The thing with mom, Will," Kennedy was saying, making her tune back into the conversation. "She . . . well, she. . ."

"Oh for God's sake," Roxy snapped, and took over the explanation. "Mom is a wacko!"

"What?" Willow laughed nervously.

"It's true," Kennedy said glumly. "Don't get me wrong, she's the sanest, smartest woman you'll ever meet . . . until I get a girlfriend."

"Okay, now I'm scared."

Roxy laughed, "Don't worry, she's not going to boil your bunny or anything. She's not _that _brand ofcrazy."

"But I thought your mom knew you were gay."

"She does! I came out when I was ten!"

"You were twelve," Roxy corrected.

"Whatever. But the thing is, my mom is totally independent and feminist about everything. She worked for her degree in women's studies after she married Roxy's dad and she helps run a shelter for abused women in Manhattan."

"I'm not really sure where you're going with this."

"She has a blind spot," Roxy said. "A big blind spot, when it comes to Kennedy. Me, I could spend my entire life working eight 'til late and whoring around with gorgeous men to fill my spare time and mom would be happy I was fulfilling my full potential as a free and autonomous human being, but Kennedy here. . ."

"She wants less for me."

"Less?"

"Well, she'd probably say it was more. As soon as my love life is on the table she gets all . . . I brought my first girlfriend home when I was fourteen. . ."

"It was funny as hell," Roxy put in.

"For you, maybe. She came on so strong she scared Kelly off completely. I mean, she wouldn't even talk to me after in case it trapped her in an arranged marriage!"

Willow laughed and so did Roxy but when it was clear Kennedy didn't find it so funny, she sobered up. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"The second girlfriend I took home found it hilarious. She told the whole school. I was a laughing stock for weeks."

"Until you beat the crap out of her and Jenny Malone," Roxy said, obviously enjoying that memory.

"How do you even know that? You were a kid!"

"Greta's sister was in my class. How like you not to remember that."

"Can it. The third girl I took home . . ." When Kennedy paused, Willow almost asked her not to go on. It was obviously painful for her, and it wasn't filling Willow with any happy thoughts either. ". . . that was the restraining order."

"What?" she blurted, the seatbelt locked as she tried to sit forward in shock.

"Not against me," Kennedy hurried to explain. "I didn't do anything inappropriate. But Cate's parents somehow got the impression that my mom was trying to kidnap their daughter."

"How did they get that impression?" Willow asked, even though at this point she was scared to hear the answer.

Kennedy just shrugged, so Roxy answered, "Mom only wanted her to come to Mexico with us to meet the family. It was only a vacation, but Cate's parents were racist assholes."

"They weren't racist," Kennedy said. "They just . . ."

"Excuse me? They found out a bunch of Mexicans were taking their lily white daughter to Mexico and they freaked out. Bet if we'd been going to Aspen for the week instead they'd have been fine with it."

"Whatever," Kennedy shrugged again. "The point is, Willow. . ."

"Oh, good, I was hoping you had one."

Kennedy pulled her seatbelt forward so she could turn in her seat, catching Willow's worried look.

"Don't look so scared," she said with a smile. "Mom's a nice person; it's just she gets real Latina when it comes to me finding someone. It's why I didn't take anyone home after Cate until . . . you," she smiled again. "But the reason my mom screwed everything up before is because I wasn't serious with any of those girls, not even kind of. But we are, right?"

Willow smiled and took Kennedy's hand as she poked it between the seats. "Yep."

"So what's the worse my mom can do?"

"Ken, you might want to sit back," Roxy said grimly. "I think we're about to have a police chase."

Willow twisted in her seat to look out of the rear window and saw the flashing lights of a police car right behind them.

Kennedy yelled at her sister, "I knew you stole the fricken keys!"

* * *

"We're very sorry, officer," Xander said, giving the security guy in the tight, blue polyester uniform a wave goodbye. "I promise it won't happen again. Just, you know, teenage girls, holiday spirits, bad mix. Next year we'll stay away from the mall."

Finally turning away he rolled his good eye. "Vi, what were you thinking?"

"It's not like I knew he was in there," she defended herself as they walked away.

"Didn't your bag feel heavier?" Alison asked.

"No, it felt as light as usual. I can't help being superstrong!"

Alison and Rona both chuckled while Miranda joined Xander in looking back at the little fella who had caused all the trouble. He was staring after them, his large, slanted eyes still sleepy. He was two feet tall but so slender it was easy to see how he had crawled into Vi's unsupervised rucksack unnoticed.

"So he's a real elf?" Miranda asked him.

"Guess so. Can't say I've ever met one before."

"Isn't it weird he has a job here though? 'Cause he's not human I mean."

"That's sweet," Xander chuckled. "You're a slayer and you still think stuff is weird."

"But where I grew up the elves in Santa's grotto were people dressed up."

"Where did you grow up again?"

"Florida."

"Maybe real elves don't like going that far south. He seemed harmless anyway," Xander decided, "not a big deal."

* * *

Santa Claus shouted an order and gradually his reindeers came to a stop. He stepped off of his sleigh and his black boots sank several inches into the fresh snow.

"Innoki!"

His head minion came running at his call. Not quite three feet tall and slender as a candy cane, his green boots barely made an impression in the snow as he ran over.

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

"We will be at the next resort in an hour, Santa."

"I know, but it will take time to set up and I am hungry now."

Innoki looked around. "We are in the middle of the forest, Santa."

"And?" he asked, his expression saying it all.

Innoki thought quickly and then sniffed the air. "There is a herd of deer a mile west."

"I cannot eat deer! It upsets Rudolf, sensitive runt that he is."

"Of course, Santa." Innoki nodded and then sniffed the air again. "There is a dwelling, a large one." He pointed east.

"Are there children there?" he asked, his mouth already watering in anticipation.

Innoki sniffed again. "Teenagers."

"Ah well," he sighed. "Needs must. Are they, at least, respectable and virtuous?"

Innoki's nose wasn't that good but he valued his position, so he lied. "I think one of them is an honour student, Santa, and a virgin."

"Good. Go ahead and secure our arrival."

The elf disappeared and Santa climbed back onto the sleigh. Teenagers weren't as tender as seven year olds but they were better than deer. He cracked his whip over Blitzen's back and the reindeer started to move again.

Gleefully, he sat back in the seat and let the icy wind rush over him, happy to be alive. "Ho Ho Ho!"

* * *

The bell made the slightest tinkle and Giles looked up at it as he walked into the shop.

"I tried to fix it," Owen said in his oddly familiar accent. "But no matter how much I bend it this way and that it doesn't want to ring properly."

"You should probably count that as a blessing," Giles said as he approached the counter with a friendly smile. "I had one in my shop and the thing gets bloody annoying after a while."

"I imagine so, sir. Now what I can do for you?"

Giles hesitated. He had planned to stroll around the shop for a few minutes, choosing a few items to purchase, but because the old man had spoken to him directly he'd forgotten his ruse.

"Tree lights," he said eventually. "I was wondering if you had any?"

"Ah, yours have fused right out of the pack too?" Owen asked, walking out from behind the counter. "Mine seem to do that nearly every year."

"Not exactly. We only bought one lot and they're leaving the tree looking rather bare." That much was true, although he had already purchased a further two packs in Cleveland.

"Well I have white ones, red ones, green ones and multi-coloured ones. Though I'll be honest, they'll probably only live through this holiday season."

Giles nodded as Owen took him right to the rack. "That's fine. As long as I have something festive for the girls this week. Er. . .I was also wondering. . ."

When he hesitated Owen gave him a bright smile, "What's that, sir?"

"You know about what we're doing up at the camp?"

It was a deliberately leading question but Owen merely looked helpful. "You're running a wildlife tracking program. It's a wonderful idea. So much wildlife around here and maybe you taking an interest in it will finally see some of our more at risk animals being conserved."

"Indeed. So, in light of that, I was wondering if you had any information on the current wolf attacks?"

"Wolf attacks?"

"Yes, the spate of children being carried off from resorts."

"Oh." Owen looked sad and shook his head a couple of times. "That's a terrible thing. But I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I haven't joined the hunt in many years."

"Why's that?"

Owen gestured at himself. "I'm getting too old to run through the countryside, sir."

"Ah," Giles stammered for a moment, it was impolite to pry into another's frailties of age and as a young boy he had received many a clip around the ear from elderly Watchers for doing just that. "Actually, I was looking for more of an historic perspective on the matter."

"I'm not quite that old, sir," Owen chuckled but there was something in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Suspicion? Fear perhaps? Giles wasn't entirely sure he wasn't imagining it, and so he pressed on.

"You've been running this store for several years now, yes?"

"Yes, ever since my father passed it on to me."

"And that was when?"

"Nineteen-eighty-seven, I believe it was. He passed away soon after."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Giles said automatically.

"He was old." Owen walked back to the counter, straightening merchandise as he went. "So, tell me, what kind of store did you run back home?"

"Hmm, I'm sorry? Oh, a. . .a. . ." He couldn't very well say a magic shop. He grabbed a pack of the white lights and another of the red and followed him to the front of the store. ". . .a, well, I sold curios and rare books mostly."

"So you've taken quite a career turn, sir."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don't imagine there was much call for troubled teenage girls and wolf hunts in your last profession."

"No, no," Giles chuckled. "You're quite right." Owen gave him an intent look, obviously waiting for the story behind this. "I started to feel old, stuffy before my time."

"I know how that feels, sir."

Owen rang the tree lights up on his ancient cash register and Giles realised he had to be more direct if he wasn't going to be ushered out of the door before he'd made his enquiries.

"So you've lived in the area for nearly twenty years then?"

"Longer than that, sir. I've spent the best part of my life in Boudenver."

"Do you know when the wolves first started attacking children in the area?"

Owen licked his lips and then shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't, but I'd imagine it's been since there were children here to attack."

Giles nodded. "Is it always children? Has a grown woman never been dragged off? A man has never been cornered by them in an alley?"

"Not to my knowledge, sir."

"Have you ever seen them?"

"A long time ago, perhaps."

"And what did you see?"

Owen hesitated and Giles didn't think he'd ever seen him do that before. It made him sure the shopkeeper's next words would be a lie.

"Enough to know they're merciless, when they're hungry at least, and cunning enough that a horde of villagers waving pitchforks and flaming torches aren't going to outfox them."

That hadn't sounded like a lie, but it had made the old man very uncomfortable. Owen busied himself behind the counter now, facing the other way, tidying rows of cigarette packets that had been neatly displayed already.

"But they were wolves?

"Wolves are as good a name as any?"

Before Giles could ask him to explain the bell above the door gave the faintest of tinkles and one of the local ladies came hurrying in. He couldn't remember her name but her hair was a bright orange colour – that he secretly suspected might have been a wig – and she wore a bright lime green snowsuit. She stamped snow off of her boots as she entered and her cheeks were pink from the cold wind.

She gave Giles a polite but neutral smile as she passed him and then beamed at the shopkeeper.

"Owen, I was wondering if you would put up a flyer for the RBC's Winter Festival?"

"I usually do." Owen held out his hand to accept one of the rolled posters she had under her arm.

"I know, but this year, well we've had a stroke of luck," she handed over one of the flyers as if she was reluctant to let him see it.

He unrolled the paper quizzically. "I see. No. I'm afraid not, Pamela. I do not advertise crooks and tricksters in my store."

"He's not a crook," she argued. "He's the same guy who's been touring the resorts. He's not even charging us."

"I'm sure he's not. No, I'm sorry, but I cannot promote the Winter Festival this year as I will not be attending."

"Don't you think that's over-reacting?" Pamela asked.

"No, I don't, but I'm an old man set in my ways, perhaps the latest additions to our little town would like to check it out."

Owen turned the poster around so that Giles could take a look. It was nicely designed, obviously done on someone's computer, and he could see nothing offensive about it. It promised hot chocolate, carolling, carnival rides, the chance to pet a reindeer and a visit from Father Christmas – there was a picture of the red robed holiday icon himself at the bottom of the poster. It looked harmless and outdated, just like everything else the locals got up to.

Giles knew he shouldn't complain but Boudenver really was a poor excuse for the centre of a mystical convergence.

"Oh yes, it looks like jolly good, clean fun."

"It is, something those girls of yours could probably benefit from," Pamela sniffed haughtily and turned away from him. "If I can't change your mind . . ." she began, about to take the flyer back from Owen.

"Actually, perhaps Mr. Giles would like to take this one. Show it to your girls. See if any of them would like to attend. I'm sure they'll find it right up their alley."

Bemused, Giles took it from him and re-rolled it without another look. The festival was on the twenty-sixth, only four days away. They'd be too busy trying to catch this demon – or wolf, or whatever it was – to go to Winter Festivals. He'd just have to pet a reindeer another year if the urge ever took him.

After bidding Owen and Pamela goodbye, he left the store. There was still one more stop to make before going home to make some sense of his notes. Hopefully he could do it all before Buffy and Faith called him from the resort.

* * *

"So tell me again, B, how we got stuck with this mission?" Faith frowned as she looked out of the plane window. Everything, everywhere, was white.

"How about: Me falling for you somehow turned the world on its axis and now up is down and wrong is right and good karma is bad karma." Buffy's voice came out strained, her fingertips were digging into the armrests as the plane ploughed and furrowed through the bad weather. "And so, instead of spending Christmas with my loving family – which would be a fitting reward for saving the world again last summer – I'm stuck on this recycled soda can with possibly the least affectionate person on the planet."

"Hey, I'm affectionate!" Faith unclipped her belt, leaning closer to the pressurised window, trying to make out any landmarks that suggested they were nearing what passed these days for home.

"Yeah, when there's something in it for you." Buffy said through gritted teeth as the plane shook them about. "Uh, Faith, the seatbelt light is on."

"Yeah, I know. And I just held you for an hour at Niagara Falls!"

"And can you honestly say that wasn't only because you were freezing your butt off and I had a warmer coat than you?"

"Minor detail." Faith gave up her sightseeing - once you've seen one wall of snow, you've seen them all – and settled back in her seat. "Are you still scared of this shit?"

"Scared of hurtling through the air at five hundred miles an hour, thirty seven thousand feet above the ground in a storm offering zero visibility? Maybe a teensy bit, because, you know, I'm normal!"

"Don't give me that, you've been like this since we left Cleveland," Faith smiled. She kinda liked Buffy being all scared and girly for a change – even if it did turn her into even more a bitch.

"Then stop asking me!" Buffy turned away from her as much as the seatbelt would allow. "How long until we can get off this thing anyway?"

Faith took a guess, "Half hour maybe. Look, B, there's nothing to be scared of. The pilot does this a million times a day…" Buffy glanced at her sceptically. "…You know what I mean. He's a professional, and they have computers and stuff for in case he gets drunk…"

"He's drunk-flying? Don't they have laws…?" Buffy paused, giving Faith a hard look when she started laughing. "Funny Faith," she turned away angrily again. "Just because the only fears you have are emotional and psychological doesn't mean my real ones are fair game for you to make fun of."

Faith sighed, "No need to get personal, I was just messing around."

"I'm sorry," Buffy muttered. "You know I don't mean it. I'm just a little freaked. I hate being at someone else's mercy like this. And if he's a drunk someone, I like it even less."

"He's not," Faith promised.

Buffy stared fixedly at the big blank screen at the front of the economy-class cabin so that she wouldn't accidentally catch a glimpse of the outside. She looked more than a little freaked out. The whites of her eyes were more visible than was attractive and her teeth were clenched so hard together as the plane shook, rattled and occasionally felt like it was gonna roll, that her lips were pulling back from them a little.

Faith gave a slight shake of her head and leaned to the side, sliding her arm around Buffy's shoulders. Her other arm she slid across Buffy's stomach, like a second seatbelt.

"Uh Faith, what exactly is it you're doing… to me… right now… on a very public plane?" Buffy didn't look at her as she spoke.

"It's called being affectionate, B," Faith chuckled in her ear. "Apparently when people get scared, like you are now, they like to be comforted."

"I'm not sure the airline would like your idea of comforting me, though." Buffy looked around at the other passengers. "People are looking."

Faith lifted her head from where she'd rested it on Buffy's shoulder. "No, they're not."

"But if they looked, they could see," Buffy sounded distressed by the idea.

"See what, B?" Faith grinned. "I'm giving you a hug, not trying to join the mile high club."

"Oh. I mean, I knew that," Buffy looked casually away again. "I just, well we don't know the rules, do we? They might have, uh, rules against hugs."

Faith's grin grew wider. "Don't go changing the subject. What were you worried people might see, huh? Just how much comforting are you gonna take?"

"I'm still getting over the shock of you taking it this far," Buffy admitted, smiling now.

The plane suddenly jolted hard, and for a moment it was possible to realise just how fast they were going before de-celeration started.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy had gone as white as the outside of the window and she clutched onto Faith's arm across her waist like it was the safety bar on a roller coaster.

"It's okay, we just landed. See, we're slowing down now." Faith lifted her arm from Buffy's shoulders to point out of the window.

"What happens if the plane skids on all the snow and ice?"

Faith shrugged, it wasn't like she had all the answers. "Our all-expenses-paid trip to a luxury resort will begin with one hell of a bang, that's what."

Buffy chuckled and finally released Faith's arm as the plane pulled up beside the airport. Faith removed her arm as the seatbelt light clicked off.

"Thanks."

Faith looked up from getting her hand luggage together. "No problem."

"I mean it," Buffy went on, although she too was getting her things together instead of making eye contact. "I wasn't being very nice to you but you still. . ."

"Save your thanks, B. I was planning on copping a feel the first chance I got, figured you'd be too distracted to notice."

Buffy looked up to glare at her. "Why do you do that?"

Faith shrugged, still not looking at her. "Well, I ain't gonna get to second base any other way, am I?"

"Not with that attitude," Buffy snapped and then slotted her way into the people shuffling past for the exit.

Faith couldn't do the same right away and was forced to yell over the seats to get the last word. "My attitude's just fine; it's your attitude that needs to grow up!"

Buffy showed no indication that she'd heard her and Faith threw herself back in her seat, fuming, and waited for the last of the passengers to file past her, in no hurry to catch up with her travel partner.

So far they'd only been on this trip half a day and it was already horrible. There'd better at least be something decent to slay at the end of it all.

* * *

"Home sweet home," Roxy coo'ed sarcastically as they pulled into a wide circular driveway. "Did you miss it?"

"This isn't home," Kennedy snarked and then smiled as she threw open the drivers' door. "But yeah."

After their two minute police chase and half an hour sitting on the freeway while the police officer called Kennedy's Mom, Kennedy had been told to take over the wheel. Roxy had been pissed, Willow had been terrified. Kennedy's driving was way more erratic than her sister's! But Willow hadn't let on and she tried to hide her shaky legs now as she climbed out of the back seat.

"Wow!"

"It looks even better in summer," Kennedy said, going to the trunk for their luggage.

It looked pretty great in the winter though too. The soft-hued stone, red-roofed house was the size and had the same charm as a country hotel. The driveway had been cleared of snow but the rest of the landscape, and there was a lot of it, was a stunning, untouched white. Even the small statues lining the drive looked more like cultured snowmen. It was beautiful.

Roxy read her expression and winked at her. "Wait until you see inside."

Coming back around the side of the porches, Kennedy rolled her eyes. "Willow's not like your boyfriends, Rox. She cares about more than parental acreage."

That might have been true but Willow still really wanted to see the inside. Although she was a little worried about meeting the parents, acreage aside, after the stories she heard during the car ride.

She smiled nervously at Kennedy. "So, this is where we go in, right? And meet your Mom?"

Kennedy grinned. "Relax, Will, I swear she's not as bad as Roxy made out."

"What about as bad as you made out?"

"You can put that down to me being nervous too. I've never introduced her to someone I'm actually in love with."

For some reason that made Willow even more nervous. She dallied behind the other two as they walked up the path. Sensing this, Kennedy dropped their suitcases and came back to her. She took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"We'll do this together," she promised, and then dragged Willow up the path to the front door before she could say anything.

Roxy had already entered so the actual door gave Willow no time to resist. Before she knew it she was standing in a lushly carpeted foyer.

"Shouldn't I take my shoes off?" she asked as she was tugged onwards.

"No one else does."

"Then how does the carpet stay so creamy?"

"Maids live for this stuff."

"Oh." Willow's eyebrows rose and then she frowned. "Are you sure?"

* * *

Inside the airport was heaving; it looked like half the people in the world had come to Cleveland, Ohio for the holidays. Or at least, half the world's kids. They were everywhere, shrieking and crying and getting in everyone's way.

Faith wasn't a kid person and right away she could see that was going to be a problem. This place was geared up totally for the noisy little shits. There was going to be no getting away from them.

"You okay?" Buffy asked as she approached, dropping her suitcase by her feet.

"Too many damn brats," Faith said as she looked for the exit.

"Well, that's what Christmas is all about, isn't it? The children."

"Not when I was one. Where do you think we're supposed to get this shuttle bus to the resort?"

Buffy pointed across the room and Faith saw the man dressed as an elf holding up a big placard.

"This way to Santa's Secret Grotto, Snow Dunes," Faith read. "Guess that's us."

She hefted her duffle bag higher up her shoulder and walked purposely towards the elf.

* * *

The kitchen wasn't as huge as Willow was expecting but you still could have filled it with a dozen cooks. It was homely and nice, actually. A fire burned in an open grate with an elderly Labrador sleeping in front of it and the scent of nutmeg and cinnamon hung in the air.

"Mom?" Kennedy called out.

A man appeared instead. Dark haired, olive-skinned, about fifty maybe. Willow thought he might be the butler until he came over to give Kennedy a hug. "She's upstairs getting ready. She'll be down any second though if she saw the car pull up. How was the flight, honey?"

"Fine. Dad, this is Willow. Willow, this is my Step-Dad, Jesus."

Willow went pink, for several reasons. "I'm sorry, Jesus?"

The man rolled his eyes, cuffing Kennedy's shoulder gently as he released her. "It's pronounced 'Hey-soos' but my daughter here likes to wind me up."

"Oh, that's a relief." Seeing his confusion she pinked even more and blurted, "I'm Jewish."

He gave her a smile and a wink, "I'll try not to hold that against you," and then offered his hand.

She shook it formally and tried not to let her grip shake. She'd never met parents before! Well, she'd met Tara's Dad but not under the best circumstances. And she'd met Oz's but only in a 'Hi' 'Bye' kind of way – they'd hardly ever been around and they hadn't shown much interest when they were.

"It's really nice to meet you, Willow. Make yourself at home. I'll see you both at the party later." He gave Kennedy's shoulder one last squeeze and left the kitchen.

"He seems nice."

"He is." Kennedy moved deeper into the kitchen, heading for the fridge like a typical slayer. "Oh, and that's Suki."

The grizzled lab raised her head at the sound of her name, gave a gentle wuff in Kennedy's direction and then went back to sleep.

"She's fourteen so don't expect much, but throw a stick and she'll still walk after it."

"Okay."

Kennedy came back with a tray of mini quiches. She stuffed two in her mouth before saying, "Help yourself."

"Thank you."

The only thing she'd eaten since breakfast was a packet of peanuts on the plane and she gratefully took two of the savoury bites. The first one was halfway to her mouth when the yelling started.

"Don't eat that! Don't eat that!"

Startled, Willow dropped the quiche altogether and it landed soft side down, smooshing on the tiled floor. Embarrassed she went bright red again. "Oops, I'm sorry!"

"That wasn't your fault. Mom, was that necessary?"

"Yes!" And then Eva Longoria swished into the kitchen and snatched the tray from Kennedy and Willow nearly dropped the other quiche too! "Give me those."

With some fumbling Willow kept hold of the quiche long enough to drop it back onto the edge of the serving dish as she gawped at Kennedy's Mom. Okay, so she didn't look _exactly_ like her, she was maybe twenty pounds heavier and her hair was several inches shorter, but she did look like The Young and the Restless actress. Not that Willow watched that kind of show, no siree, she definitely hadn't become hooked on soap operas – including several foreign language ones – while she was moping around during Kennedy's absence. Aww, she wondered how Geniveve and little Pepe from. . .

"Wow, you're a nervous one. Won't take me long to scare this one off, heh?" She elbowed Willow playfully as she addressed her daughter. "Suki, snack time!"

The dog struggled to his feet and lumbered over to clear up Willow's mess. She smiled at him appreciatively and then offered her hand to Kennedy's mother. Seeing it was coated in quiche she rubbed her palm quickly on her jeans before offering it again.

"Hi, I'm Willow!" The woman bypassed her hand and went straight for the bear hug. "Oh, okay!"

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Willow. Call me Rosie. I'm glad you could join us for the holidays. We're all very excited to get to know you . . ."

"Mom."

"Would you prefer me to tell your friend we are not excited to meet her?" Rosie let her go abruptly as she bickered with her daughter. "Fine, it is a total drag to have you here, Willow, please try not to get in the way."

"Mom!"

"I cannot win." Rosie threw her hands in the air, smiling at Willow, who smiled nervously back. "Now get your friend a tissue before she rubs any more crumbs onto her lovely clothes." She swept away to put the dish of quiches back into the fridge. "And leave the party food alone, I can't ask the caterer to make more this late. There is pizza in the freezer if you are that hungry."

She left the room, heading out of a different door to the one she'd entered. Suki finished licking at the tiles and went back to the fire. Alone for the first time all day, Kennedy took advantage, sliding her hands around Willow's waist and pressing her back against the central chopping station.

"Don't you want to get the pizza?"

"In a minute." After a quick kiss Kennedy leaned back to talk. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay. Aren't I? Did I not do okay? It was the wiping my hand on my leg thing wasn't it? I panicked and . . .!"

Kennedy calmed her with another kiss, smiling after. "You were perfect."

She smiled back. "Really? Your parents are nice. Do I really have lovely clothes?" She looked into the few inches between them, down at her bright yellow feathery coat and her fleecy orange pants. Her ensemble looked vaguely familiar and she wrinkled her forehead as she tried to figure out why.

"Oh great!" She threw her arms either side of Kennedy. "I met your family dressed as Big Bird! No wonder your sister wasn't all that impressed by your taste in women," she huffed.

Kennedy just chuckled, confirming her fears that she really did look like a Muppet. "Well, I think it was a success. My Step-Dad normally has too much going on to be so emotionally available, so he must have liked you on first impression, which is basically what he judges everyone on so that's a good sign, and my Mom actually came across as relatively normal. She didn't weep happy tears all over you because now her. . ." Kennedy switched her accent so that it sounded more like her mother's. ". . . little baby girl has finally found someone to love and cherish for her life!"

"You downplayed it in the car, huh?"

Kennedy grinned, "I had to get you through the front door somehow. She actually seemed cool though. Maybe she's finally calmed down. Either that or she's planning to surprise us with something even worse than the usual," she joked, leaning in for another indulgent kiss.

When they parted, Kennedy went to look for the pizza in the fridge-freezer. Willow looked over at the army of squeaky clean wine glasses lined up on a counter. Facing off against them on the opposite counter was a smaller but more imposing army made up of liquor, champagne and wine bottles. Either Kennedy's family were high-functioning alcoholics or they were ready to throw one hell of a party, and then she remembered.

"So, what's the party for tonight? Is it Christmas-themed? Because that's okay but I'm carrying around my Menorah. I think I've worshipped Santa and the baby Jesus more than enough for one year."

"We don't usually have a party until New Years Eve, this must be for . . . something . . . else. Oh No!" Kennedy froze, and then threw open the fridge to see all of the trays of catered food waiting inside. "Oh shit!"

"It's okay, I didn't really bring my Menorah," Willow said, misunderstanding. "I don't actually have a Menorah. I usually prefer fat, dribbley candles now . . ."

"Not that. I just realised who the party's for!" Kennedy sounded in great distress and then she yelled out as loud as she could, "MOM!"

(_Tbc . . .)_


	8. Act 2:3

Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. And two updates in one week! Wow, must be Christmas. Happy Holidays :)

* * *

Barnies was usually empty at this time of day, except for the semi-retired men who always seemed to be gathered around the back. This afternoon it was not. It was crowded with tourists.

So much for having a discreet conversation with Alex; he would be lucky to even get his attention. Giles politely edged his way to the bar and had to wait five minutes before he could ask one of the staff where the landlord was.

"He's on duty. You might find him at the sheriff's department."

The curtness of the reply could have been because of how busy the bar was or because that was how many of the locals still spoke to them. Four months of living there hadn't procured many warm feelings towards them in this tight knit community and he wondered how long they would have to suffer the cold shoulder before they were accepted.

He didn't have time to dwell on it today, not with the prospect of heading to the sheriff's office ahead of him. It was one thing to pop in here for a quiet pint and pick Alex's brain about the wolf attacks in the name of club research, quite another to engage him on such an upsetting subject while in his professional capacity.

He considered leaving it. Xander had done a good job with the cousin, perhaps he could be persuaded to come into town that evening to talk with Alex too. He was loathe to leave it any longer though, now that he was so unsure once more what was causing the attacks and with Buffy and Faith already heading for the front line.

* * *

The storm had abated by the time they all trooped outside to the waiting buses, but everywhere was still white. Snow on the ground, snow covering the trees and the buildings, and snow still heavy in the low clouds above.

The only colour came from the lurid ski-wear most of the guests seemed to think was the height of fashion. The elf-man leading the way blended in better than Faith had thought he would, his fir-green hat and tunic and berry-red pants and shirt fitting naturally against the blank canvas scenery.

Faith felt like a blot on the landscape in her blue jeans and blue denim jacket.

"Think I stand out?" she whispered to Buffy as they stood in the crowd, listening to the elf shout instructions before they boarded the bus.

Buffy gave her a quick once over. "Yeah."

"Thanks, B." Faith shook her head as she sighed. "Can always count on you to make me feel better, huh?"

Buffy gave her a strange look. "What? I thought you liked standing out? At least, that's the impression you always give. If I got it wrong, I'm sorry, but Faith, you do send a hell of a lot of mixed signals all over the place. You can't expect me to be on top of every single mood swing you have, a few are gonna sail right past me."

Buffy was smiling at her, but Faith just felt irritated and turned away. "Whatever."

"Oh God," Buffy groaned under her breath. "Why did I let myself get dragged into this assignment? We're going to hate each other by the time we get home, aren't we? Why can't we just be normal for once?"

Faith frowned, finding it hard to argue against the truth. She didn't even know why they were bickering more than ever the last few days. It wasn't her fault. Buffy just always seemed to know the right thing to say to push her buttons; or at least one button – typically, the one marked 'Do not push'.

"Sorry, just antsy," she muttered. "Ignore me."

"Yeah, like that's possible," Buffy nudged her with an elbow. "God, my feet are going to fall off with frostbite if we don't get on this bus soon. Why do we need instructions to sit on a bus anyway? I know how to do it, I've done it before; you just . . . sit. There, easy peasy."

Faith chuckled, "If you were listening instead of whining, you'd know ol' Patch up there was giving us our schedule for the next five days."

"And he can't do that on the heated bus?"

"I think we're supposed to be soaking up the, whatdoyercallit . . . ambience."

"It's an airport. We're outside an airport. Admittedly it has more snow than some other airports, but otherwise," Buffy looked about them, "not all that exciting."

"But it's a magical place, B," Faith smirked, spreading her arms wide. "Can't you feel the magic in the air?"

"Our kitchen is a magical place, F; if that were important to me, I'd have stayed there; it's warmer for one thing."

"Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"Sitting by a fire somewhere, listening to jolly Christmas songs and drinking eggnog."

Faith laughed as she stamped her chilled feet, "Smarter than us then."

* * *

Willow stood anxiously by the fireplace, sipping her warm and spicy mulled wine and wishing she was anywhere but there. It might have seemed odd to most people, considering how luxuriant her surroundings were, but there were mitigating reasons for her uneasiness.

The main living room (apparently there were three altogether) in Kennedy's parents' holiday home was already filling up nicely, much to Willow's dismay. Dismay because she had to greet each of them personally. She'd already said hello and made small talk with eight cheerfully bemused couples – which was sixteen more strangers than she was usually comfortable talking to at parties. It was made worse because they were as bewildered as she was. They didn't seem to know why they'd been invited to a party just to meet her but they were all polite and jovial enough to do so with gusto. Willow had been under the impression that most rich people weren't all that nice – admittedly most of that assumption was based on her experiences with the likes of Cordelia and her wealthy friends – but Kennedy's parents were obviously the exception and they seemed to know all the other exceptions too, on the East Coast anyway.

She was trying not to be a sourpuss about the whole thing. It wasn't every day someone threw a party this lavish in her honour after all. She just wished Buffy were there or Xander, or even Dawn so there was someone else in the room who felt like a fish on dry land too.

Kennedy was perfectly comfortable, understandable because these had been her people since she was four or five, but she wasn't trying so hard with the not being a sourpuss thing. She was openly scowling most of the time. She wasn't rude to any of the guests, smiling and asking after people Willow had obviously never heard of, but every time they were alone again she had a face like really angry thunder.

"Is it me?" Willow whispered eventually. "Are you wishing you hadn't invited me now?"

Kennedy's expression instantly softened and she turned to her. "No. I'm glad you're here. I just wish here was somewhere else right now. Honestly, Willow, if I'd known my Mom was going to throw us a big 'coming out' party I would have jumped at Giles offer to spend the holidays monster hunting."

"This is a bit. . . strange," she agreed, trying to be tactful. "Did all of these people already know you were gay?"

Kennedy shrugged, "Most of them? Probably, but only because of my Mom. It's not like I put an announcement in the newspaper. But that's not the point. I don't care if they know, but this was supposed to be about you meeting my _family_, not half of New York."

"At least I'm making a lot of contacts, you know, in case I ever need an investment banker or a renowned plastic surgeon," she quipped, thinking of just a couple of the people she'd met so far.

Kennedy grinned but then asked seriously. "Are you okay with this though? It's a lot at once. If you're not we can bail."

"I'm okay," she said, and then quailed inside when she saw a new couple walk through the door. "Kinda. Hey, there can't be that many more people to come, right?"

"True." Kennedy looked around the room. "Only another fifty or so."

"Oh!" Kennedy looked at her with concern but Willow shook her head to make her stop. "Fifty's not so bad. We can do this."

The next couple were upon them then and Willow had no choice but to do it. It was a little easier when Kennedy took her hand this time, showing a united front. Together they went through the motions.

"Thomas, Val, it's great to see you again." Kennedy turned slightly from the middle-aged couple to introduce her. "This is Willow. Willow, this is Thomas and Valerie Steinbeck."

"Of the Philadelphia Steinbeck's," Thomas said as he shook her hand, like that meant anything to her at all. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Willow. How are you finding the Hamptons?"

"It's nice to meet you too," she said, as she had a dozen times already. "And they seem really nice but I only arrived a few hours ago. Oh! Not that I don't think they will be when I've gotten to know them better, I just meant . . ." She stopped talking when Kennedy squeezed her hand, and she finished lamely, "They're lovely."

Thomas laughed heartily and Valerie smiled and took possession of her hand. "They are, I'm sure you'll have fun here. And," she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I can't tell you how thrilled we all are that Kennedy has finally settled down enough to bring someone home to meet us."

"What do you mean 'settled down'?" Kennedy asked.

"Well, your Mother told us how you ran off to California to find yourself. We all thought you'd be living the Bohemian life in San Francisco forever and we'd never see you again."

By the look on her face Kennedy really didn't know what to say to that so Willow stepped in, remembering to dilute the facts for the civilians.

"Actually, Kennedy came to us in California for a job. I think she didn't tell her parents in case it didn't work out, but she's definitely been settled the whole time."

"Really?" Thomas asked. Kennedy nodded. "That's wonderful. See, Val, I told you Kennedy had a good head on her shoulders."

Valerie looked pleased to be proved wrong. "And you two met while working together? That's nice."

Willow and Kennedy both nodded and then the couple were summoned by friends, and after a promise to 'catch up later' they left.

"See, not so bad," she said.

"You're shaking," Kennedy pointed out.

"So are you."

"I wasn't expecting anyone to ask where I've been," Kennedy said, acknowledging that she'd frozen.

"Was my answer okay?" Willow asked anxiously. She'd thought of it on the fly, but it hadn't seemed ridiculous coming out of her mouth.

"It was great. We'll stick with it for the rest of the night."

"Maybe you should tell your parents it too. They were obviously worried about you."

Kennedy chuckled, "Let's see if I'm still talking to them at the end of the night first."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Willow smiled now. "Only twenty-four more couples to go." Her confidence left as she saw new people enter the room. "Oh shoot, here comes another one!"

Kennedy glanced at them before tugging Willow towards the kitchen. "A lot more mulled wine will make this more enjoyable. Let's take a break."

Willow didn't argue.

* * *

It was a brisk five minute walk through the snow to the sheriff's department. The concrete steps outside had been recently salted and were clear of snow and ice but Giles held onto the iron rail anyway and it seemed to burn with cold through his leather gloves. The blue-painted door opened without restraint and he smiled as the warmth from inside enveloped him.

Sam was inside, his legs propped up on the neat desk as he watched the small, overhead television. He pulled his legs down and sat up straight when he realised he wasn't alone.

"Sorry to disturb you."

The young man seemed flustered, as if he'd been caught sleeping on the job rather than just watching television. "You didn't, I was just. . ."

"Resting you leg? How is it now?"

Sam seemed to suddenly recognise him with the question. "Oh, hello, Sir. It's better, thanks. Doc Holirown said I'd be back on active duty in the New Year."

"That is good news. I expect you can't wait to be back out there."

"Actually sir, I was thinking of asking your granddaughter if she'd shoot me in my other leg. Just enough to keep me behind this desk until spring," he joked.

Still feeling responsible for the junior policeman's injury, Giles let the granddaughter comment go this time and smiled.

"So what's up?" Sam asked, picking a black pen up from the desk and pulling a yellow legal pad towards him. "Did your place get broken into? Unfortunately we get a spate of burglaries in the more out of town residences whenever the tourists flood in. They're isolated incidents though, Sir, nothing to worry about if you're security conscious."

Giles wondered how a spate could also be an isolated incident but decided to let his curiosity remain idle; he had more pressing questions. "I was wondering if Alex was around?"

Sam shook his head. "Out on patrol. He'll be awhile. He likes to make a quick visit to all the resorts this time of year as well as his usual route. Just to make sure nobody's having any trouble."

"Trouble?"

"The usual: vehicle theft, drunk and disorderly, credit card fraud, people not paying their mini-bar bills." Sam shrugged. "Can't say I'm sorry to be missing that fun this year. You usually just get your ear talked off by the service staff whining about how Mr. So-and-So didn't tip for this and how Mrs. So-and-So let her kid do that. It's a pain in the butt. You can be stuck at each stop an hour."

"I see. So you never have bigger trouble than that?"

Sam shrugged again, "Sometimes. Want some coffee?"

Seeing an opportunity to get some information without having to speak to Alex, who always seemed to look at him with mildly condescending suspicion, Giles nodded, "Please?"

Sam stood up and went to the coffee pot on the counter. He still walked with a slight limp. "Alex is bringing milk back with him. Is black okay?"

"That will be fine." He slipped into the seat opposite the desk. "So what is the worse we should be looking out for this time of year?"

"Well," Sam thought about it as he poured the coffee into two polystyrene cups. "There are a few things."

He carried the cups over and Giles reached up to take his. "Yes?"

"Yeah, did you hear about the . . ."

The blue door opened and Alex bustled in, not alone. A drunken youth was slouching semi-conscious in front of him, propelled along by the deputy sheriff's big hands. The cold radiated off of them, making Giles shiver.

"Hey, Sam get. . . Oh, Hi, Mr. Giles. Sam, get the cell opened up. Jonathan here needs to get some beauty sleep."

"It's Johnny!" the boy slurred.

"Well, your parents said it was Jonathan and they were the sober ones."

Alex pushed him towards the cell down the corridor with Sam limping ahead to open the door. There was some unseen cursing from Jonathan and then Alex yelled at him, followed by the unmistakeable sound of a solid punch in the nose. Giles winced, really hoping he wasn't audibly witnessing police brutality. From the boy's language he probably needed a good clip around the ear but Alex was a big man and Giles could not condone him abusing his power in such a way.

He was standing to leave, deciding to send Xander down later after all rather than see something that would diminish his already tentative respect for the deputy sheriff, when he heard them coming back up corridor.

"I'll get you some snow," he heard Sam say.

"I'm fine," Alex said nasally. When they came back into the reception area Giles saw his nose was dribbling blood. "My mistake for not handcuffing him." He took several serviettes from the counter by the coffee pot and held them to his nose. "So what are you doing here, Mr. Giles?"

He sounded in no mood to beat around the bush, which was hardly surprising. Flustered from jumping to the wrong conclusion, Giles could think of no response but the truth.

"I've heard rumours about wolf attacks in the area."

"Not rumours," Alex confirmed, throwing one wad of bloody tissue away and pressing some more to his nose as he looked irritably at the coffee pot. "I didn't get a chance to buy milk. Sam?"

"I'll go to Owen's."

Sam took his sheriff's department bomber jacket from a hook and was already rushing outside as he pulled it on. Obviously he did not want to antagonise Alex in this mood, not even over milk.

Giles wondered how far he could push his luck with the burly deputy. He'd never seen him looking quite so. . . professional. He normally thought of him as being much more suited as a barman than as a police officer but it was a wonder what a punch in the nose could do.

"Do you need to sit down? I know quite a bit of first aid."

"I appreciate the offer, Sir, but I'm not a badger."

Giles tried not to show that the comment had ruffled his feathers, he was here for answers after all. "Then Perhaps you could tell me about the wolf attacks?"

"The investigation is on-going, I can't comment."

"I was referring to the previous occurrences but you're suggesting there have been attacks this year too?"

Alex looked annoyed by his slip but didn't give any more ground. "Like I said, I can't comment."

"Could you at least give me some information on the earlier incidents?" He pulled out his notebook. "I know of at least. . ."

"It's confidential."

"But the whole town seems to know of it," he argued.

Alex looked even more annoyed and then, throwing the tissue away once more, relaxed somewhat. "Every few years wolves come over the Canadian border and. . ."

"That is not true."

"What makes you say that?"

"On several occasions people have been questioned in regards to the disappearances."

Alex suddenly became serious about the conversation, poured himself a cup of the black coffee and took Sam's seat on the opposite side of the desk. "Forensics cleared them all. How do you know this?"

"I did some research at the Cleveland library. It was easy to find if you know what you are looking for."

"And how does someone who tracks wildlife for a career know what to look for?" Giles hesitated over an answer but Alex let him off the hook. "Never mind, stupid question. Look, there's been a lot of conflicting stories over the years but all the evidence leads to wolves. Nothing human could rip these kids apart like that." He took a long swallow of his bitter coffee and pulled a face. "God, I hate this stuff."

"Me too," Giles nodded and set his barely touched cup on the desk. "So if it is wolves, as you say, how can it be that the same pack has been operating in the same way for over fifty years? Surely a wolf's life span isn't that long?"

"Shouldn't you know that?"

Giles didn't acknowledge he'd slipped either. "Let me put it another way: Wolves _don't_ live that long, especially ones that find food _that _hard to find every winter."

"Pack mentality. Maybe it's passed down from generation to generation."

"Perhaps. Or maybe it is something else."

"If it was a man coming back here every few years to kill some kids, don't you think he'd have been caught by now? The resorts keep records of every guest and we've kept records of every attack. Do you really think we wouldn't have noticed some pattern if there was one?"

Giles tried very hard not to let his expression say exactly that, but Alex saw through him.

"I'm good at what I do and so is my father, and so was the sheriff before him! Besides, the FBI have been all over this too and they decided it was wolves."

"But what if it is something else?"

"I don't think a raccoon would have the jaw strength to . . ."

"Don't be flippant!" Giles snapped. "Children's lives are at stake!"

Alex's expression turned as frosty as the air outside. "I'm taking this very seriously, Sir. It is my home that is under attack every year. It's wolves! We'll be mounting a hunt tomorrow to flush them out and exterminate them. Now if you have no further questions . . ."

"Actually I have quite a few questions left."

"Goodbye, Mr. Giles."

He reluctantly stood, aware that he was going to get no more information this way. He stopped at the door as he put his gloves back on. "I'd like to join the hunt. For research purposes."

Alex gave him a dismissive nod. "I'll mention it to my father."

It was snowing again as Giles left the building. He pulled his collar up around his neck, shivering inside his thick jacket, and set off to the car. He had learned nothing new here, except that deputy sheriff was extremely touchy about the subject. He would have to pass on his vague assumptions to Buffy and Faith and hope that was enough knowledge to arm them.

He really wished Willow was around. He respected her need for a break, he could use one himself, and he was proud that she was taking the step to meet Kennedy's family. As stubborn and uncooperative as the young slayer could be at times, she was an asset to their own little family and he was pleased that she and Willow seemed on solid ground again. However, this current foe was looking more mysterious and deadly all the time and he was concerned that Willow's magical ability and Kennedy's experienced back-up may more sorely missed.

* * *

The party felt more relaxed now, thanks to several glasses of mulled wine and half a bottle of the regular kind. Willow was finally enjoying herself, if a little drunkenly. Nobody seemed to care, least of all Kennedy, who was paying her a lot of attention and still feeding her the occasional glass of the hard stuff even though she really didn't need anymore.

"So did you want more to eat?"

Willow shook her head as she wiped her mouth and politely burped into her napkin. "One more slice of smoked salmon and bears are gonna be waiting by my bath tonight. It was all yummy though. Your Mom really knows how to cook!"

"You mean she knows how to hire a good caterer," Kennedy grinned. "I grew up on Spaghettios before my she married my Step-Dad."

Willow chuckled, "Well even if she can't cook, I love your Mom."

"You do?"

"Yeah, she threw us this whole awesome party," Willow gushed. "My Mom would never think to do that. She was all like, 'Oh, you're a lesbian, that's great, statistics show blah blah blah! She insisted on meeting Tara and then spoke to her for like three minutes before remembering she had a meeting and rushed off. And then after that she used to call her Terri all the time . . . Sorry."

She'd apologised because Kennedy's smile had disappeared, but her girlfriend reached over and squeezed her forearm.

"You can talk about her, Will."

"Thanks. But the thing I was saying was, your Mom doing this for you, for _us_, is great. It shows she really cares. And if having to say hello to three dozen people is the only price to pay I'm glad we paid it."

The sound of a silver spoon hitting crystal glass stalled Kennedy's reply and Willow looked to see where it had come from. It was Kennedy's Mom.

"Now that everyone is here, I think it's time we have a few words from the happy couple, don't you?"

There were many 'here here's. Kennedy just groaned, "God, Mom!"

"What does she mean: happy couple?" Willow asked urgently. "Is that us? I don't want to say any words!"

Kennedy looked resigned because everyone had already turned to face them in their quiet little corner. She took Willow's hand again and muttered, "Still think my Mom's awesome?"

Out loud, she said, "Thanks, everyone, for coming. Willow and I really appreciate it. I . . . I . . ." She shrugged. "I don't really know what else I'm supposed to say, Mom."

Rosie beamed proudly, "Just tell us how you feel about each other."

"Oh Goddess," Willow murmured.

"Willow and I haven't been together that long," Kennedy began with slight exasperation, "but I realised I loved her pretty much straight away. Actually, it took me longer than that to realise it, but when I did I knew I'd loved her right away. She's the proverbial 'one', you know? And we're very happy together."

"We are," Willow nodded. "She's my one too."

She said it because it fit nicely with Kennedy's short speech and it meant she wouldn't have to add anything else – and it wasn't like she didn't believe it, in the moment – but she wasn't so sure there _was_ such a thing anymore. She'd once thought Oz was the one, and then Tara had definitely been the one. Willow loved Kennedy and she didn't want to think about losing her but she didn't put her faith in anyone being The One anymore.

So she really wasn't expecting the sudden outpouring of love from all corners of the room. There was applause, people coming up to congratulate her, the whole shebang. It was freaky.

"What just happened?"

Kennedy shook her head even as she accepted the congratulations. "I don't think we want to know."

Willow nodded as she returned a hug from someone she had only met for three seconds before. She really wished she was in Boudenver right now. Buffy and Faith had it so easy only having to track a pack of Hellhounds!

* * *

The bus raced through the forest. The snow shone a brighter white against the darkness, like it was being lit from within, but beneath the trees on either side of them the shadows just seemed deeper than ever.

"Did you see that?" Buffy suddenly whispered.

They were sitting next to each other, halfway up the bus, and the puffy sleeve of Buffy's coat brushed against the front of Faith's denim jacket as she discreetly tried to point.

Faith's mind had been wandering, but she pulled herself up in her seat. There was nothing there for her to see.

"What?"

"There's another one!"

Faith clocked it this time. An elf had poked his head around a tree briefly before disappearing again.

"It's probably all part of the show." Faith said as all around them kids started squealing that they could see the elves.

"Then the resort really scores points for authentic. Look at them."

Another obligingly poked half his body into view as Faith concentrated. It was short and skinny, dressed in green from head to toe with pointy ears and sharp but beautiful features. It wasn't human, but it was easy to see how they could pass for it if you were all caught up in the magic of the moment.

"Damn," Faith muttered, as another popped up from behind a holly bush. "Think elves are demons?"

Buffy shrugged, leaning closer and pretending she was searching for the little folk in the trees like the rest of the bus as she whispered into Faith's ear. "I don't know. I've always thought of elves as white hats – not that I knew they existed until now – but I mean, they make toys for Santa and help out elderly Dutch shoemakers. What's evil about that?"

"So they're just here to earn a living. Their work's gotta be seasonal, right? Maybe they can even help us out."

"How so?"

"Um," Faith was trying not to think about how close Buffy was. She knew it was important that no one overheard this conversation, but for real, any closer and Buffy would have been sitting on her lap. It was making it hard to concentrate on the great idea she'd just had. "Well, if they've been working the resorts since the attacks started maybe they've seen the Hellhounds. Couldn't hurt to ask them."

"Except we're supposed to be undercover and telling the resort employees that we're really there to hunt a pack of supernatural dogs with an appetite for little children – not very undercovery."

"Guess not." Disappointed that Buffy had shot her idea down so freakin' rationally, Faith dropped her head back to look at the roof of the bus. "Not too sure what our other options are though. It's pretty wild out here and the resort itself covers, what, twenty acres? That's a lot of land to keep travelling over 'til we find these hounds, especially if we can't split up 'cause it'll blow our cover."

"Well it's not going to be easy," Buffy admitted, absently patting her leg as she continued to lean forward, "but that's why they chose us for the job. We're at the top of our profession, Faith. We are the crème-de-la-crème. No monster too big, no apocalypse too small, Buffy and Faith are the Slayers to call . . ."

Faith looked down at the hand now resting on her thigh and then turned to stare at her. "Have you been drinking?"

Buffy wrinkled her nose with an embarrassed little smile. "I never meant to do the cheesy rhyme thing at the end."

With the way Buffy was still leaning in, Faith turning her head had brought their faces close together; very close together. She could feel Buffy's warm breath on her lips and her eyes dipped to the blonde's mouth, wondering if it would be okay to kiss her.

After all the grief Buffy had been giving her since the visit to Haywater, Faith didn't even know why she'd want to risk the headache, but she was right there, she hadn't moved back even though their noses were an inch from touching, and she was still smiling at her. It was hard not to get drawn in by her eyes, and so screw the headache, screw the shrink's advice; if B wanted this too, who was Faith to deny her?

Buffy's smile slipped into a look of serious want and she licked her lips delicately. That was all the sign Faith needed and she moved to close the small gap between them.

"Oh God, Faith," Buffy breathed, making Faith feel pretty special to be getting such a reaction even before she'd kissed her. "Look! There's hundreds of them!"

"Huh? What?" Faith shot back, the back of her head bouncing off of the window as she lost her composure. "I mean, yeah."

Buffy glanced at her, only having kinda noticed her dramatic display of stupid, "Are you okay?"

"Five by five. So what are we looking at?"

Buffy gestured at the window and said slowly, "The elves."

"Oh, yeah, right."

Faith turned to the window and saw what Buffy had seen right before she'd tried to kiss her. The thing that had caused her 'sign'. Apparently scared and horny gave Buffy the same expression – she figured she should have known that already, but then it was so long since she had seen Buffy horny, or scared for that matter, it was no wonder she'd forgotten.

Outside, in the surreally lit winter forest, elf heads popped up above trees, bushes and boulders by the dozen. It was like a miniature red and green army against the white and black of the snowy night and there didn't seem to be a patch of the roadside that wasn't sprouting the little festive folk now as they hungrily watched the bus sweep by.

The kids were still hollering all around them in excitement and their parents were no better, whipping the brats up into a frenzy over the 'entertainment' so they could be sure to get their money's worth, but Faith knew in her gut something wasn't right. The things out there, the elves, were scary. Sure one or two were cute enough but banded menacingly together like this, it should have been enough to have these kids screaming their heads off to get away, not begging to meet them.

"This isn't right," she muttered, "They ain't giving little waves and friendly smiles anymore. They're gnashing their sharp, sharp teeth and pumping their fists!"

"And they really want what's in this bus," Buffy agreed.

Faith turned to her again but even though they were as close as before, kissing was the furthest thing from her mind as she saw the realisation she'd come to was also there in Buffy's eyes.

Together they murmured, "It's the elves!"

[End of Act Two]


	9. Act 3:1

_Thank you for the feedback :) Here's the beginning of Act Three._

* * *

Act three

The kids were still clamouring excitedly about the appearing and disappearing little folk as the bus swept down the long driveway to the hotel.

"Are they seeing what we're seeing?" Faith murmured. She was unable to take her eyes from the legion of sharp-featured elves.

"I think they're seeing the magick of Christmas," Buffy began wistfully, then her tone turned darker. "And we're seeing the stinky yak cheese behind it."

This situation was suddenly a whole lot worse than she had been expecting. She hadn't been worried about a pack of hell hounds; she'd slayed their kind before and they weren't that tough if you caught them one by one and avoided their teeth. This though, she didn't know how to go about catching _one _elf, and even if they were running to keep up with the bus and they were seeing the same ones over and over again, there still had to be a hundred of them out there.

Between the two of them they were going to have their work cut out and Buffy was thinking it might be wise to ask Giles to have the other slayers on standby. They might not be able to flood the resort on a whim without causing too much chaos but if the other girls could be outside the fences maybe, they could rush in and help when Buffy gave the signal.

She was about to suggest this to Faith when the bus pulled to a stop and Patch, or whatever real his name was, stood up and started giving out instructions. Buffy hadn't taken much notice of him before but she studied him now as he spoke. He was definitely human. His pointy ears were plastic and although he was short, he was no shorter than her. The elves that had been tracking the bus couldn't have been more than three feet tall and they were really skinny; Patch wasn't.

So he was human, someone legitimately hired by the resort and probably not worthy of suspicion. Were the others employees too? Everyone else on the bus seemed to assume so, but was it feasible that the owner of Snow Dunes had hired non-humans? And if he had, had he known what he was hiring? What about the other resorts? There had been attacks at each one in the past couple of weeks. Had they all been to the same Rent-an-Elf?

"Are you gonna sit there all night?" Faith broke into her thoughts. "Do I need to climb over you?"

She had been staring so hard at Patch, her mind racing, that she hadn't realised that the bus was already half empty. Faith was standing up beside her, trapped next to the window by her legs.

"Sorry."

Standing up, she tried to reach into the overhead compartment for her hand luggage but she wasn't tall enough. Faith nudged her out of the way and grabbed the two bags, carrying them both off of the bus before handing Buffy's to her.

"Thanks. I just need to get my suitcase."

"How spaced were you? Patch said they'd be taken to our cabin. We just have to go get our key. Which is gonna take forever now 'cause, thanks to you, we'll probably be last in line."

Buffy didn't reply, obviously their short-lived truce was over again.

Why did they even need a truce when they were supposed to be in love? Shouldn't all the time be truce time? They were worse now than before the visit to Faith's therapist. At least before they'd both been trying to make an effort. Now it seemed that the shrink's advice had just given them a reason to stop trying. It really worried her because she didn't know how long she could put up with it, or how long Faith would. Surely there had to come a time when you cut your losses and moved on before you both went crazy. For Buffy, though, that had usually been at the end of the relationship, not at the start of it.

It was depressing to think that she'd put all this time, months now, into wanting Faith, only to have it be a non-starter. More than anything she didn't want that to be the case. Faith was everything she wanted, only now it seemed like she wanted something that didn't really exist, like the girl she had fallen so hard for had disappeared when Faith had gone back to prison. She didn't know why she felt this because Faith was very definitely still Faith and she hadn't changed except in good ways. So had Buffy changed? But how could that be if she still wanted Faith like she had before?

Ugh, it made her head hurt, and considering that they had bigger problems to deal with, Haywater's advice suddenly seem like a good idea again. Distance was of the good. If they could make it until after the holidays without killing each other, they could re-evaluate in the New Year.

Of course, she realised as they were standing at the back of a long line of other guests in the hotel reception, distance wasn't going to be easy until they'd killed all the elves. Also, as if to add to her pain, all the other guests were _happy_. The couples were smiling and laughing with each other as they waited in the queue, commenting on the pretty red and silver decorations, how big the Christmas tree was and how lovely it was to see real holly right outside. The ones with kids were cheerfully reining them in when they started getting a little boisterous with the excitement. Buffy looked around in despair as each couple seemed happier than the last. She and Faith were supposed to be happy like that and here they were standing there like strangers, not looking at or speaking to each other as they waited. Faith had been pricklier than the holly outside ever since they left the bus and, not only did it make Buffy feel sad, it was going to blow their cover too.

She sidled closer to Faith to whisper in her ear. "We have to act more couply."

"Fine," Faith sighed without looking at her. "Want me to feel you up right here? That'd be couply."

"Can't you take this seriously?" she hissed.

"The mission or our relationship?" Faith hissed back. "Oh, stupid me, according to you we don't have a relationship."

"I never said that!"

"You were the one who wanted a break."

"I never said that either! Your therapist did!"

"Whatever."

"Fine!" Except not fine, at all. "You agreed to it readily enough. In fact, you jumped on the chance to break up with me for a little while."

Faith gave her a sidelong look and sneered, "Can't imagine what might make me wanna do that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say when I pictured having you as a girlfriend, it was better than this."

Buffy turned to her, eyes hard as she folded her arms. "Go on then, explain how being my girlfriend is the worse scenario ever for you."

"What, right here?" Faith gestured at the crowd; several people already seemed to think they were the opening act as they glanced over.

Buffy noticed people were staring too. That was bad. They hadn't even been able to maintain the pretence of being a happy couple long enough to check in. She sighed deeply. There was only one thing left to do: make it real. She just hoped Faith had the brains to play along.

"It's no good you starting an argument with me in public, honey," she began, "if you're just gonna get stage fright before you can win. Not that you're gonna win," she added, and winked at the smirking mother in front of them.

Faith just glared at her for a moment and Buffy thought she was genuinely too angry to stay in character but then she shook her head with a smirk of her own. "Who started the argument? You've been bitching at me since we left home. So much for our romantic break, huh?"

"I wanted it to be romantic!" Buffy shot back. "I guess I forgot you didn't have that bone in your body."

Now Faith turned to the man with the smirking woman in front of them. "Can you believe this? I planned this trip as a surprise for her. She's always wanted to do the big Christmas getaway thing, so I worked double time for three months to make it happen and this is the thanks I get?"

"Women!" The man agreed, earning an annoyed slap on the chest from his wife.

Well, at least if they couldn't be the perfect happy couple, they were bringing everyone else down with them. Also, Buffy realised, she didn't have a good come back to that. Now she looked like the spoiled girlfriend and Faith had come up smelling like roses. Damn, that was annoying, and it meant she had to switch gears again to save face.

She tried not to grit her teeth as she said, "You know I appreciate it, honey, I just hate flying. I would have preferred a break closer to home."

"Yeah, not many Christmas Wonderlands in California," Faith said sarcastically, "but now that I know I'm allowed to do things half-assed in the future, I will."

Before Buffy could think of a suitable reply the woman was asking, "So you two are from California?"

That could be an awkward conversation on its own but at least it got them out of their fake – but not-fake-enough – argument.

"Buffy is. I'm from Boston but I've been living down there with her for a while now."

"How long have you been together?" The man asked.

"Jeez, I dunno. I'm bad at anniversaries, dude. I know we met in '99."

As she marvelled over how good Faith could be at this when she tried, Buffy did math quick in her head. "We had our four year anniversary just last month!" she said with just the right amount of fond exasperation . . . she hoped.

Faith nodded, getting a faraway look in her eyes. "Damn, that was a good party. Hardly surprising I don't remember much of it, if ya know what I mean," she said, grinning at the guy.

He nodded, grinning too, "Our tenth was like that."

"I practically had to carry him to bed," the woman said, looking mildly annoyed with the memory.

It was Buffy's turn to nod and she pointed a thumb at Faith, "I know what you mean."

As the couple took their turn at the front desk to claim their key, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She had to return one last bright smile as they called their little kid to heel and bid the slayers a 'Happy Holidays', and then they were gone.

"We did okay," Buffy murmured as they stepped up to the desk.

"Definitely could have gone worse," Faith agreed.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Willow," Kennedy apologised when they finally had a minute without people coming up to congratulate them. "This is definitely my Mom at her worse."

"It's not so bad."

She knew Willow was lying. She was still shaking slightly for one thing, plus it _had _been bad. She couldn't believe her Mom had pulled this stunt. Everything Rosie had done in the past had been over the top, but not publicly like this. This surpassed everything and Kennedy felt hot and embarrassed by it so she could only imagine how Willow was feeling.

"I think she's gone into overdrive, you know, because I've been away from home so long. She's overcompensating."

"So we should blame The First?" Willow asked with a little smile.

"I think placing the blame on something supernatural would make me feel better," Kennedy admitted.

"What if that's true?"

Kennedy chuckled but Willow looked serious. "You think my Mom's a demon? I'm pretty sure I'd have realised by now."

"No, not a demon, obviously, but . . . but maybe possessed or something."

"You think my Mom is possessed by something that makes her want to see me happy and in love?"

Willow shrugged, "It wouldn't be a bad possession as possessions go. It's just that . . ." she looked around at all the people the room, those that caught her eye gave her big smiles, a few gave the thumbs up sign. ". . . you have to admit this is . . . kinda weird."

Kennedy looked around too and sighed, "No, this is just my family."

* * *

"Go fish!" Xander told Alison, although it came out as a mumble as he shoved some more chips in his mouth.

The young slayer sighed and took a card from the pack. "I am losing like you wouldn't believe."

"Oh we believe it," said Vi, who was doing really well.

"I still think we should be playing for money," Rona stole the bag of chips from Xander's side of the table. "Or better yet, were playing a game that made it worth playing for money."

"Yes, I still don't get this game," Reece complained, he was also losing a lot.

"What's not to get?" Dawn asked cheerfully. "I've been playing this game since I was five. Obviously Buffy always used to cheat so I never won but the rules aren't exactly rocket science."

"Buffy wouldn't cheat, would she?" Miranda asked, sounding horrified by the idea.

"Buffy used to cheat all the time! She used to make up fake rules to games so I lost," Dawn laughed. "I remember her having the biggest tantrum when Mom told her she had to let me win sometimes."

"But you know she loves you and that's what counts," Xander said, sounding like a Sunday school teacher to himself.

He was feeling out of his depth. Buffy and Willow were both gone, Giles was in his office researching like crazy and so he was doing his best to keep the troops entertained, but all he really wanted to do was go down to Barnies and grab a beer.

He knew he could do this entertaining stuff, it was the one thing he was usually good at, but right now – without his sidekicks – he was feeling a little lost. Buffy and Willow had been pulling him through his dark patch, or dragging him though it possibly, but either way it had been working. Without them around that pit of despair was looking mighty good again.

The game had moved on without him. He'd missed his turn but he couldn't find it in himself to care. See, that wasn't normal! He tried to concentrate as Miranda had to hand cards to Naomi who in turn asked Cici for some fives.

Oh, jeez, he needed to get out of here! But he couldn't, because he was the only adult on the premises – other than Giles, who, as previously mentioned, was holed up in his office, taking no notice of them at all.

Cici was going fishing as the phone rang and Xander leapt up to grab the receiver from the wall – he'd reinstalled after all, it was his right!

"Hello?"

"_Xander? Hi, it's Alex._"

"Alex, hi!" Did he sound too enthusiastic? He didn't really care. "What's up?"

"_I spoke to my Dad, he okay'd you guys coming on the hunt._"

"Cool, a wolf hunt! Should we bring anything: binoculars? A bunny on a fishing rod? A picnic?"

Alex was gruffer than usual as he answered, "_Do you have your own guns?_"

Xander though about that. "We have a few tranq guns."

"_That's it?_"

"We're not really gun people."

"_Hard to be annoyed about that_," Alex admitted. "_So we're meeting in the morning, about six by The Mouth. Can you make it?_"

Xander shrugged, "We'll be there."

"_Thanks, Xan_." And Alex hung up.

Xander took his seat back at the table, not sure how to feel about the prospect of wolf-hunting in the morning. On the one hand it was great of Alex to give them the go ahead – someone needed to be there in case the guys from town caught something they couldn't handle. On the other hand, there was a reason he didn't willingly patrol anymore and if the guys did corner a demon in the woods, he might have to be the someone who stepped up and handled it for them. He felt a twinge of pain where his missing eye should be at the thought of coming face to face with a hellhound. It had been scary enough the last time one had tried to bite his face off and back then he'd never thought twice about leaping into the fray.

Buffy, after lots of training together with tennis balls over the past month, had declared him ready for patrolling again, providing he was careful, but it wasn't just his physical capabilities that had been the problem. So yeah, he was definitely feeling the pre-date nervousness. But it wasn't like he could leave Giles to face it alone! He just had to man up and get on with it.

It might even be fun, if he could relax for a second, him and Giles teaming up. Butch and Sundance back together again, just like the old days after Buffy and Willow had started college.

"So we're wolf hunting tomorrow?" Alison asked excitedly.

He didn't get a chance to answer before Naomi said, "You know we won't actually be hunting real wolves, don't you?"

"Of course I know that! I can't wait to see a hellhound."

"But we're Vampire Slayers," Miranda sounded nervous, which wasn't unusual. "Shouldn't we, like, call in the hellhound slayers to deal with this?"

Cici chuckled, "Come on, Miranda, can you even remember the last time we saw a vampire? I think if we want to slay anything at all while we're here we have to be ready to diversify."

"Besides," Naomi began, "a slayer's duties are hardly so specific. You need to be prepared to defend the world from any supernatural threat that arises. If you focus too closely on vampires, how will you know what to do when a Hornbee emerges from its chrysalis under the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and starts stinging everyone in the city to death?"

"Or some big ugly pops out of a portal at you," Dawn agreed. "Anyway, hellhounds can't be any worse than werewolves and we dealt with those just fine. Personally I can't wait to handle a little demon butt again." She blushed, glancing at Reece. "Not that I actually want to, you know, handle it!"

"That's a relief." Smiling, Reece leaned over in his chair to kiss her.

Grinning sickeningly sweetly at Reece, she asked Xander, "So what time do we leave?"

"That's the thing, Dawn," he braced himself for the teenage indignation coming his way. "You're not."

"What? That's not fair! Did Buffy tell you to say that? Just because I'm not a slayer she thinks I'm a baby."

"Buffy didn't tell me to say anything." Although he wished she had; it would let him off of the bad guy hook. "This is my call, you can't come."

"You can't make me spend Christmas Eve alone while the rest of you go demon hunting! I might not have slayer strength but I'm every bit as useful as the rest of you."

"You shot a cop in the leg the last time you were allowed on patrol," he calmly reminded her.

"That was ages ago!" she reminded him, not so calmly, right back.

"And yet the two outings will be eerily similar: cops and demonic dogs aplenty! You can't come, but don't worry, you're not being left out 'cause no one else is coming either. It'll just be me and Giles."

"What?" Alison threw her cards on the table in a fury. "You have to take us! We're the slayers. You can't go hunting monsters without us. It's not fair!"

Now Xander knew how Giles had felt when they were younger and Buffy had loudly proclaimed that anything she had to do that she didn't want to do was unfair. It was annoying. No wonder Giles had frowned so much all the time.

"Think about it," he said to Alison but then turned his head so that he could look at each of the slayers as he spoke. "How is it going to look if we turn up with all you girls?"

"Since when are you a chauvinist?" Rona looked like she wanted to call him a much worse word than that.

"Hey, talking of things that aren't fair!" He said, hurt. "But think about it, guys. Alex's Dad was already wary of letting us join them and this is his show. They don't know you're slayers and how do you think the sheriff is going to react to teenage girls trying to join their wolf hunt? At the very least he'll send you all back home again because he thinks it's too dangerous. At the worst he'll send all of us packing because he thinks we're a bunch of amateurs."

Surprisingly Reece backed him up. "Mr. Harris is right and even if the sheriff did agree, we can't risk any of you arousing suspicions by slaying the hellhounds in front of them."

"Thank you!"

"However, Mr. Harris, I don't see how my presence could arouse suspicion, so unless Mr. Giles tells me otherwise I _will_ be joining you."

He'd known it was a trap, okay maybe not really a trap, but definitely a hoodwink. He wasn't sure how to respond either. He didn't want Reece coming because, well, A) he didn't like him, but also because he didn't want the boy being a part of what he was now thinking of as his and Giles' time. But how could he say that without actually telling the truth?

"Reece, the sheriff isn't going to take us seriously if we turn up with a minor either," Xander congratulated himself, that was honest without being too offensive.

Reece wasn't offended, but he wasn't backing down either. "I'm eighteen, nearly nineteen, and Jimmy the electrician is going and he's only seventeen."

"Yeah, but . . ."

"And I think you have to agree I have more knowledge of what we might face than any of the older men do."

"Book knowledge, sure, but . . ."

"And I've been out in the field a lot more than you have recently, so I think if either of us should stay at home with the girls . . ."

Okay, that was the last straw! Xander was restless and nervous, he wanted a beer that he knew he shouldn't have and on top of that, Reece just _really_ pissed him off even when he _wasn't_ being an ass.

"Kid, I have slayed more than my fair share of demons! Just because you think you're the big shot Watcher around here now doesn't mean you know a thing about being out there and getting the job done. I've known big-shot Watchers; they usually end up dead or working for a vampire."

"I get what your problem is now . . . you're jealous of me," Reece sneered at him. "You desperately want to be a Watcher, but you know in Rupert's eyes you'll never be more than a handy man."

"Reece!" Dawn snapped, half angry, half worried.

Xander didn't have an answer. All he desperately wanted right now was to beat the boy to a pulp but that wasn't him, it was his dad talking and he'd spent years tuning that voice out.

"Maybe you're right," he said eventually, a little smile on his lips. "But you're still not coming."

"Perhaps we should let someone with an ounce of authority decide that." Reece looked up at the door to the living room. "Mr. Giles?"

Xander turned quickly in his chair to see the doorway, half expecting it to be a fake out, but no, Giles was there.

"I assume we've been granted permission to join the hunt?" he said as he walked into the kitchen to make some tea.

"Uh huh, we have to meet them at six tomorrow morning."

"That's good. A little early for me, but we'll make do."

"Mr. Giles," Reece began. "I see no reason why I shouldn't join you tomorrow."

"Really?" Giles turned to him with a deadly smile, "Because I heard several reasons in the two minutes I was standing on the other side of that door."

Reece stood up, "But sir . . .!"

"You won't be joining us, Reece, and as someone with several ounces of authority that is my final decision on the matter. However," and now he turned to Xander and his expression was still deadly-ish. "Robin, Andrew and Craig will be joining us. I trust you're okay with that?"

"Sure, if you think it's a good idea

." The victory over Reece was worth giving ground on his Butch and Sundance time. He had to ask though, "But Andrew . . . really?"

Giles' smile turned teasing, "If all else fails we can always use him for bait."

"Uncle Rubear!" Naomi said, shocked.

Xander just had to laugh.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! More soon._


	10. Act 3:2

_Hey. I'm on a roll with this now! If I keep going at this rate this episode might even be finished in under twelve months! Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter. They are the fuel that keeps this fire burning (not that I'd actually ever burn them because they're too special for that!) :)_

* * *

They'd passed several large cabins before reaching their own so Buffy was surprised by how small it was. Not that it didn't look inviting but she distinctly remembered the words 'lap of luxury' being mentioned and this was more like . . . a pocket of luxury. The squat timber cabin was nestled in the edge of the forest, its sloping roof blanketed thickly in white. Sweet-smelling wood smoke pouring from its chimney, the smoke pale against the clear, dark sky. It was, well, _quaint _was the only suitable word she could think of, but after seeing some of the other cabins, Buffy had been expecting a wooden palace, not a homely woodcutter's cottage.

Faith was obviously thinking along the same lines. "Didn't Giles pay . . ." Buffy nudged her as subtly as she could in front of the other people. "I mean, didn't I pay an arm and leg to stay here? How come we get this titchy little hut?"

"These are the couples cabins," their guide – another man dressed as an elf – informed them. "They're not as big as the family cabins obviously but you do get more privacy out here for doing couple-type things." He winked and leered at Faith, who couldn't be bothered to play along this time, before handing her an information pack and ambling off with the rest of his group of guests. He called back over his shoulder as he remembered something else. "Oh, plus you get the hot tubs. Dinner's at nine."

"Okay." Faith gave a slow nod. "Hot tub could be a fair trade off on size."

Buffy tempered her own excitement at the thought of a hot tub. While it sounded like the best thing in the world right now when she was cold and tired, she wasn't sure sharing it with Faith was a sane idea. Maybe they could take turns or something. Work out a hot tub schedule so they didn't need to be in it at the same time.

"Let's just take a look inside, shall we?"

She slipped the key into the front door lock and let them in. The first thing that hit her was the glorious warmth. The fire blazing in the stone fireplace heated every inch of the room until Buffy felt like she had stepped out of winter and into a summer's day. The second thing to hit her was just how small it actually was inside. It wasn't even a proper pocket of luxury; it was the tiny little pocket you got on jeans that was just big enough to stick your thumb in.

Buffy glanced nervously from the bed to Faith, who was also looking at the big king-sized bed, although less nervously. It was hardly surprising that was the focus of their attention, it was pretty much the only thing in the room to focus on.

"The quilt is very, uh, festive, don't you think?" Buffy said, referring to the intricately embroidered snowmen to break the awkward silence.

Faith ignored that and smirked. "Tight quarters, should get interesting." She closed the front door behind her. "Maybe it's just as well we're miles from everyone else."

"Sharing a bed doesn't automatically mean we have to have sex."

"Hell, if anyone's taught me that, B, it's you. I just meant we won't break our cover if no one can hear us yelling and bitching at each other."

"Oh, you're right. That's good." She looked quickly to Faith again. "Not that I want to yell and bitch."

Faith smiled at her, "I know." And then the smile dropped as she crossed the room. "You just can't help yourself."

"Well, no, I agree it's difficult . . . when you're being such an _ass_!" she snapped. Lifting her suitcase onto the bed she unzipped it. "I'm taking the right side."

"Well then it's gonna get _real_ interesting, 'cause so am I."

"You can't!"

"Wanna bet?"

"We can't both sleep on the same side!"

"Then you might wanna sleep on the left."

There were three doors on the other side of the room; Faith tried each of them in turn, finding the ensuite bathroom first.

"But I called dibs on the right side."

"We're in the wilderness now, B, and there ain't no dibs in the wilderness. There's just the law of the wild. This is where Want Take Have really means something. I want the right side of the bed; I'm taking it unless you can stop me. Same goes for everything else too, especially food so watch your plate at dinner."

The middle door was a walk-in closet. Faith gave the inside a look over and then threw her bag in and closed the door again.

"You come near my food and I'm stabbing your hand with a fork and we're hardly in the Wild West, we're staying in a $400 a night resort. And aren't you going to unpack and put your clothes away?" she added, exasperated.

"I just did put my clothes away."

"I meant properly!"

"I'll do it later." Faith opened the third door. "Score!"

As Faith left through the door Buffy had to leave her clothes half-unpacked and check out what had her so excited. When she saw, despite how annoying Faith was being, she couldn't help but grin herself. The cabin had a back porch which was enclosed up to shoulder-height but open to the cold night air above that until a low sloping roof kept the snow from coming inside. Faith had found a button that not only turned on the electric lights overhead but also activated the outdoor heaters set into the roof and the wooden walls and even one under the boarding if Buffy's suddenly toasty toes were anything to go by. And in the middle of it all, half-sunk into the wooden planks of the floor was the hot tub. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen! And almost big enough for her to swim laps in.

There was a sound of another switch being flicked and then the motor under the tub started with a hardly noticeable thrum. Bubbles began to appear on the surface of the water and in next to no time it began to steam gently in the cool air.

Buffy turned to Faith, about to mention her idea on hot tub schedules, only to see that Faith was already down to her underwear and not slowing down. Okay, _that_ was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Faith took off her bra and flung it on to one of the wooden benches with the rest of her clothes and then stared at her defiantly. Buffy only noticed the defiance when she looked up high enough again to meet her eyes and then, realising she was busted, looked away sharply. Even as she was doing so she wondered why and with another jerk of her head faced Faith again. She tried to look defiant too but she knew her smirk was ruining it.

Faith didn't seem to know what to do now that she'd lost the shock-factor she'd been aiming for. "Uh, I was gonna try it out."

"I figured as much."

"You got a problem with me going in naked?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, daring her to say yes.

Buffy saw no reason to argue, no reason at all. "Nope."

"Oh. Good then." Faith pushed her panties off and stepped out of them.

Buffy didn't let her eyes wander down but she couldn't stop smirking at her either, letting both of them know she wanted to. It wasn't a surprise to her; she might not have been ready to have sex yet but she was more than happy to see Faith naked again in this harmless way – it had been _way_ too long.

Faith apparently _was_ surprised by it though. "You're looking at me like you want something, B."

"I do want something."

"Let me guess, you want me to put my clothes back on?"

"Damn, you stole my punch line!" Buffy chuckled.

Looking pissed off and disappointed, Faith turned away from her and climbed into the hot tub. Buffy took the opportunity to check out her butt and suddenly the air around her felt more tropical than wintery as she warmed up from the inside-out. She smiled secretly, savouring the desire. At least, even if all else was failing them, that was still as strong as ever. It also reminded her why she didn't make a habit of seeing Faith naked at the moment – it made temptation almost too hard to resist.

Faith sighed deeply with a happy 'ahhh' groany sound as her chilled body sank into the hot water and that was Buffy's cue to move, because any more sounds like that and she'd be vaulting the side fully clothed to be in there with her.

She didn't leave right away though. Faith was sitting with her back to her, trying to ignore her, so she didn't notice when Buffy stepped up to the side. She bent the short distance until her mouth was close to Faith's ear and was speaking before Faith was aware of her being so close.

"I lied. All I really wanted was to keep staring at you." She leant forward enough to kiss her cheek and then walked inside before Faith could answer.

Back in the room, she felt way too warm to be wearing so many layers, and she didn't think it had much to do with the fire either. She took off her coat but her skin was still burning so she stripped off her sweater too and kicked off her snow boots. What she really wanted _now _was to go and join Faith in the hot tub but at the same time she wondered how wise her words to Faith had been. They'd been true, God, had they been true, but they were asking for trouble. If she wasn't ready it wasn't fair to say that kind of thing _but _if she didn't say that kind of thing when she was feeling it wasn't that just as unfair to Faith?

"There's logic in there somewhere," she muttered as went back to her unpacking. "Just wish I knew where exactly."

The only thing she was completely sure of was that she wanted New Years to be here right now so that they could put this temporary break behind them and try and make this thing work again – instead of both being stubborn enough to do the exact opposite.

* * *

"In that case you have a weird family," Willow said, "but still way more loving and attentive than mine, so, yay!"

Kennedy smiled as she gestured around. "What would your folks make of this?"

"Well, my Dad probably would have walked out as soon as he realised what it was for. He's not big on the whole 'His only daughter being a lesbian' thing. He wanted me to marry a nice Jewish accountant. And my Mom would be doing ethnographical research."

"Ethnographical?"

"You know how when you're a kid you have an ant farm so you can see how they live and act and stuff?"

"No."

"Well, imagine that you did and that's how my Mom would be treating this party."

Kennedy grinned, "And you think my parents are weird?"

"I did give them a 'yay'."

"True. So, you ready to . . ."

She'd been about to say ditch but Roxy appeared at her side as if she could read her mind.

"You can't leave!"

"Why not?" she asked.

It wasn't like they usually hung out. When she'd been back the month before, Roxy had still been in school so they'd only seen each other for one day of the weekend. Roxy had been asked to come home and visit – or bribed, Kennedy had thought at the time seeing as her sister obviously hadn't really wanted to be there. She wondered what had changed.

"Because there is no one else cool here! Not that you're ever cool," Roxy added as an afterthought. "And Willow, no offence, but you're obviously not either."

"Um, none taken," Willow said with an offended shrug.

"Hey!" Kennedy snapped on her behalf. "Willow outcool's you by miles. And so do I!"

"That's why you're standing in the corner of your own party, is it?"

"You're standing in it too," Willow pointed out and Kennedy grinned at her.

"That's only because you're the only other people here under thirty!" Roxy complained. "I told Mom I wanted to invite some of my friends but she wouldn't let me. She was worried they'd overshadow your special night – which you know they would – and so . . ."

Kennedy spoke over her rant, "Wait, you knew about this party before today?"

"Of course I did. Mom's been planning it for a week."

"And you didn't think to warn us on the drive from the airport?"

"Warn you?" Roxy looked confused. "Why would I need to warn you about your own . . .?"

Rosie all but ran passed them, grabbing her youngest daughter's arm on the way and sweeping her along in her wake. She looked back over her shoulder with a bright smile and said, "Sorry to interrupt but I need Roxanne's help in the kitchen!"

"Help in the kitchen?" Roxie griped as she was dragged along. "You don't even help in the kitchen!"

Kennedy watched as they had a hushed argument by the kitchen door. She did her best to eavesdrop but there were too many conversations going on around her.

"Do you think that's something bad?" Willow asked.

Kennedy frowned, "Probably." She took Willow's hand and gave it a pull to get her moving. "Come on; let's get out of here before we have to find out."

* * *

Faith had spent an awesome half an hour in the hot tub alone – and what she had done in that half hour Buffy never needed to know. It was the blonde's fault anyway, saying that to her and then just walking away. She'd been confused by it at first, and then pissed off because it felt like Buffy was playing with her, but then she thought, what the hell, and let the horny win through.

When she'd finally gotten out, shivering instantly after the heat of the water, she grabbed her clothes and used them to cover her just enough to be decent as she hurried inside. Buffy had been in the bathroom, showering, but she'd left a towel on the bed for her and Faith took her time drying in front of the fire, hoping Buffy would come out, see her nude again and wouldn't walk away this time.

They were both dressed, though, by the time Buffy did come out. Faith didn't say a word about her earlier comment, not wanting the other slayer to know it had bothered her either way. In fact, they barely exchanged more than a few words about how hungry they were before leaving for the dinner in the main hotel.

The three course meal had been amazing and between that and the hot tub she could see Giles' money had been well spent after all. The experience was a little marred by all the kids running around, shouting and screaming as, bored of sitting still, they played among the tables. Faith did her best to ignore them and concentrated on eating.

Buffy seemed enchanted with the little brats and at one point in their mostly silent meal had asked, "Do you want children?"

"I think I'll stick with the beef," she'd replied with her mouth full and Buffy had rolled her eyes and left it at that.

Faith wondered if she'd made another relationship faux-pas by dismissing the subject so flippantly but, honestly, she didn't care. Kids were something happy couples talked about, not ones who could barely look at each other through a two hour meal.

Once dinner was over there was entertainment in the hotel lounge but they'd both decided they didn't want to stay for it. Outside the reception area, both shivering and stamping their feet in the snow, they finally had another conversation.

"We should probably patrol." Buffy didn't sound very happy about it.

"I could certainly use a slay," Faith agreed, "but you sure you remember how?"

"I still patrol, Faith!"

She held her hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say, B."

"And just because I don't do it that often any more doesn't mean I'm going to forget how!"

"Okay! So let's do it." Faith gestured to one of the many pathways leading away from the hotel.

Buffy sighed and didn't move. "There's so much ground to cover. We could be trekking through the snow three miles that way and the . . ." she dropped her voice to a whisper ". . . elves could be three miles in the other direction."

Faith nodded; that was a problem. Snow didn't bother her as much as Buffy, she was used to it growing up in Boston, but it _was_ deep and to do a proper patrol they'd have to leave the beaten track. Wading through knee high snow would take forever!

Then she had a thought! "Wait here."

Back inside reception, she scanned the notice board until she found the list of bonus excursions that Patch had mentioned on the bus. No one was looking so she took the whole list and went back outside to Buffy.

"How do you feel about a husky ride?"

Buffy smiled, her whole face lighting up. "That sounds nice. Maybe we can do it after . . ."

"No, B, there's one that leaves in . . ." she read the list. "It says after dinner so I'm guessing any minute now."

"While I'm over the moon you've finally found your romantic side, we shouldn't really waste time on fun stuff 'til after we've completed the mission."

"What's romance got to do with it? I was thinking we could patrol faster if we had a team of huskies."

"Oh." Buffy's face went back to being carefully blank. "That's a good idea. Where is it?"

Faith shrugged as she checked the list again. "Behind the stable block."

"Which is where?"

"Are you under the impression I've been here before?"

Buffy huffed and crossed her arms. "I thought that paper might tell you."

"It's a _list_, not a map."

"Fine." There were still people regularly leaving the reception area and now Buffy stopped a family to ask, "Excuse me, do you know where the stable block is?"

The mother smiled at her, "Sure, just head up that path and take a right between the buildings, it's right behind there. Are you doing the husky safari? We did it last night, it's magical."

Buffy nodded as the father chimed in. "And your kids will _love_ it. The elves run along beside the sleigh singing Jingle Bells."

"We don't have any kids," Faith said abruptly. Buffy shot her a look which she ignored.

"Well, I'm sure you'll still enjoy it," the woman didn't sound so friendly now that they couldn't bond over brat stories. "It's worth every penny."

"Thanks," Buffy said to them. "We're definitely going to give it a go." Once they were gone she turned to Faith to hiss, "Why did you have to say that?"

"Tell the truth, you mean?" she asked, perplexed. "I thought that was what you were supposed to do. Did the rules change? Is lying a virtue now?"

Buffy ignored her and took the path alongside the hotel to find the gap they were supposed to walk through.

Faith walked beside her, grumbling quietly. "Just as well we don't have kids in tow. Least they won't get eaten!"

Buffy scoffed at that. "You don't have a kid in tow but I do."

Faith thought about possible comebacks and settled on, "So any chance I'll get eaten tonight?"

Buffy laughed, realised she was laughing and tightened her lips against the remaining smile. "There's a higher chance of me feeding you to a husky."

Faith smirked, "So that's not a 'no chance' then?"

Buffy shook her head, but she was still sort of smiling. "How about we just go back to not speaking?"

They really tried their best to do just that, but it was impossible when they realised the couple they'd met in line earlier was on the ride with them.

"I'm Jan," the woman said cheerfully once they were all seated. "And this is Tim."

Tim gave them a wave which ended up pointing at their son who was sitting on his knee. "And this is Oliver. Olly, say hello."

Oliver declined, which made Faith smile.

"I'm Buffy," Buffy said and then hiked a thumb at her. "That's Faith."

"Nice intro," she muttered, not loud enough to carry to the opposite bench.

Buffy smiled sweetly at her. "Faith's still grumpy, aren't you honey?"

"I'm not grumpy!" Realising how 'grumpy' that had sounded she rolled her eyes and forced a smile on her face. "I'm not grumpy, but I just ate a big meal. I should be sleeping it off right now, not riding around behind a pack of dogs."

"I know what you mean," Jan said. "I'm exhausted after travelling all day. All I want to do is sleep! But Tim and Olly went on and on about the darn huskies!"

Faith grinned, "So did Buffy. Things you gotta do, huh?"

"Exactly. If I didn't love him . . ." she nodded her head to the side to indicate Tim, ". . . I'd be in my pajamas already."

"You and me both."

"Aww, does that mean you love me, honey?" There was a subtle tone to Buffy's voice that the other two didn't register but Faith did, loud and clear.

"Sure do, sweetie!" Faith hammed it up and wondered if Buffy would still get the resonance of truth in her voice.

She hadn't said the words yet and she didn't know if she would any time soon, but it would be nice if Buffy could understand the message without her having to spell it out.

Apparently not this time. Buffy just gave her a neutral look and said "Aww!" again.

Faith took a chance then – after all they were supposed to be pretending to be a happy, loved up couple – and she leaned over and kissed Buffy full on the mouth. Buffy didn't dare pull away and blow their cover and so she kissed back. There was even like half a second of tongue action.

She only pulled back when she heard Oliver ask his dad, "Why are two girls kissing?"

Tim laughed uncomfortably. "It's okay for two girls to kiss if they love each other, son."

"So does that mean I can kiss boys?"

That was too much for Tim and he coughed up a fake hair ball rather than answer. Jan had to take over.

"It's okay, Olly, but only if you love them and they love you. Do you understand?"

Oliver nodded solemnly and went back to being engrossed in the huskies.

"Sorry, he's at that inquisitive age," she apologised and Faith shrugged to show it was no big deal.

The huskies took off then, jolting them all in their seats, and while the family opposite were adjusting Buffy muttered, "Now you're corrupting little kids?"

"I prefer to think of it as educating," Faith muttered back as they they both turned to face the way they going, glad to have a legitimate reason to put their backs to their 'new friends'.

* * *

They were still playing 'Go Fish' and Alison had been engrossed in the game, finding it nice to have some mindless fun for a change, but she'd done badly in the last few rounds and was losing interest.

She couldn't believe she wasn't allowed on the hunt because she was a _girl_! Considering the sitch that should have been a point in her favour, not against! She'd bet if Buffy, Faith or Kennedy had been around they wouldn't have stood for this. She respected Mr. Giles too much to argue about it, but it still burned. She was a slayer! She had the strength and ability even if she didn't have the experience yet, and how was she supposed to gain the experience if she wasn't given the opportunity to? There was nothing she could do about it though so, sighing irritably, she took another terrible card and moved on.

The phone rang again and Xander got up. "We've never been so popular."

"My Mum usually rings on a Wednesday," Reece said, although he didn't look up from his cards.

"I should call my Dad before Christmas," Craig muttered under his breath.

He and Andrew had joined the game just ten minutes before and had both looked startled to learn what they would be doing first thing in the morning. Yet another reason for her to be pissed off. They didn't even want to go! Okay, Craig had gotten excited about it once it had sunk in but his initial expression had spoken volumes – he was scared! So his place should have been given to someone who wasn't scared, i.e. - her!

Xander held the phone out towards the table. "Alison, it's your Mom."

All the colour drained from her face. "What?"

"It's your Mom," he repeated, shaking the phone a little to indicate she should come and take it.

"What does she want?" she muttered as she stood up.

She'd told her parents not to call her here. They only had the number at all because Mr. Giles insisted on every parent having contact details – it was part of the whole posing as a school deal. For a second she wondered if it was an emergency, what if her Dad was sick? Or one of her brothers? It made her move more swiftly around the table, almost snatching the receiver from Xander's hand when she reached him.

"Hello? What's wrong?"

"_Nothing dear,_" her Mom chuckled on the line. _"No need to sound so agitated."_

"Then why did you call?_"_

Her Mom sounded hurt by her tone but tried not to show it. "_We were just thinking of you and how you haven't called recently."_

"I was only home a month ago!" Alison, aware that everyone was watching her curiously, huddled over the counter with the phone pressed tight to her ear. "I can't check in all the time."

"_No one's asking you to check in; it would just be nice if you __**wanted**__ to speak to us. We miss you, Alison."_

Over the line she heard her dad say, _"Tell her why we're really calling and maybe she'll cheer up."_

"_Okay . . . Joey won his Under-elevens State Karate championships."_

Hearing her little brother's news did cheer Alison up. "That's great news. Tell him I'm proud of him."

"_It gets better. His next competition is next month . . ." _She really didn't like the way her Mom paused to build the suspense. _". . . in Columbus!" _Yep, she'd known she wouldn't like it._ "We thought we'd get a flight a few days earlier and . . ."_

"You can't stay here!" she said quickly. "We, uh . . . we don't have enough room."

"_No, we assumed as much, but we thought we could at least come visit you while we're out that way. Wouldn't that be nice?"_

Alison went cold all over. "I'm not sure if it'll be convenient."

"_Convenient?"_ her Dad croaked. "_You can't spare a day to see your family?_"

"Dad, you know it's not . . . Can I call you later about this?"

Her Dad started to say something but her Mom shushed him and firmly said, _"Yes, you can call us back to arrange what day would be best."_

"No, I meant . . ."

"Ally, we're already missing spending the holidays with you, please don't begrudge us one little visit."

"But . . ."

"_If you won't do it for your Dad and me, at least do it for your brothers. They can't understand why you don't want to spend time with them anymore."_

"I _do _want to spend time with them, it's just . . ."

"_That's settled then._" Alison sighed, that was her Mom's end-of-discussion tone. _"Call us when you can to arrange a date.__ Love you!_"

"You too," she murmured and hung up the phone.

"So what did she want?" Dawn asked eagerly.

Obviously they'd all heard her side of the conversation so there was no point pretending it had been about something else. She turned back to the table but didn't take her seat again.

"My family want to come out and visit me next month."

"That sounds nice," Andrew said.

Miranda chuckled, "Wish _my_ Mom would travel this far north in the winter to visit."

"I'm not sure Mr. Giles will be happy to have my family poking around here."

"He'll deal," Xander promised her. "We can make arrangements. Hide the weapons, put sunglasses and a trench coat on Goorzie."

"Yeah," she agreed, wishing that was all she had to worry about. "I think I'm going to go watch some TV."

She headed for the living room, not noticing Xander watching her thoughtfully as she left.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	11. Act 3:3

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews for the last part; I love knowing what you think.

* * *

Elves were following their sleigh now, light enough to run nimbly across the deep snow, fast enough to keep pace with the huskies. It had started off just one or two but now it was unmistakably a pack.

"There's one," Faith muttered, keeping her voice low so that Jan and Tim wouldn't overhear her unease. "Shit, there's another."

"I know, it's like they're everywhere!" Buffy looked around wildly before hunching close to talk into her ear. "Okay, I have a question: how are we supposed to go and slay when we have these guys watching us?"

Faith didn't know. For some reason she'd expected them to be alone aside from the driver – or whatever you called the dude controlling the huskies – and then it would have been easy to jump over the side without comment. Now that they had spectators – and spectators that knew their names – they couldn't dive into the wilderness without it looking weird.

"Maybe I can say I wanna stop for a cigarette?" she tried.

"By jumping off a sleigh going twenty miles an hour into butt deep snow?"

"You got a better suggestion?" Faith asked, annoyed.

"No, that's why I was asking you in the first place!"

They couldn't argue, not without drawing suspicion, so Faith counted to ten and backed down – not that she'd get any credit for it later. "So we call tonight recon. Let's just try and figure out where the elves are coming from or . . . I don't know, going to. Maybe from that we can learn where they're hanging out and come back tomorrow."

"That's actually a good idea." Faith inwardly seethed at the '_actually_'. "I didn't spot any following us until we passed that little building near the ski lift."

Faith hadn't either. "So we can start our search there tomorrow."

She sat back then, or rather stayed sitting forward but relaxed, tracking the elves on her side of the sleigh only so that she could see when they disappeared again. The ride was exhilarating. The freezing wind rushed past her face, invigorating her and making her want to laugh out loud as the husky dogs tore across the snowy fields.

She could tell Buffy was enjoying it too and subtly turned after a while from watching the dog's high tails as they got their mush on to watching Buffy's face. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold and tears were streaming down her cheeks from the wind but she was beaming so fricken hard it must have been painful. She'd never been so beautiful and Faith found the words on her tongue after all.

"I fuckin' love you."

They were softly spoken, whipped away by the wind and lost under the sound of the panting, yapping dogs but Buffy sensed something and turned her head.

"What?"

Smiling, Faith shook her head, "Nothing, B."

Still beaming, Buffy nodded and turned back to face the way they were going. Faith looked down at the foot of bench between them and then glanced over her shoulder at the happy, cosy family behind them. What the hell, right? Looking back at the huskies, feigning nonchalance, she slid closer and put an arm around Buffy's waist.

Buffy immediately stiffened under her touch and Faith tried not to react in kind. "Cold again?"

"No."

It was a moment before Buffy took a chance of her own, relaxing enough to lean comfortably against her.

The sleigh rushed into the woods, drawing 'Oohs' from the couple behind them. Faith could see why, the trees were pretty thick here and it felt like they could crash into one at any moment. It wasn't total darkness though, the route was marked by twinkling white lights wrapping loosely around the firs.

"Ooh, pretty," Buffy coo'ed before adding, "You know, if you don't look at the elves."

Elves had been the last thing on Faith's mind since she'd put her arm around Buffy, but as the huskies whooshed through the trees she noticed the pack had gained numbers on either side of them.

And then the singing started.

She had been expecting them to sing, but she hadn't expected them to be so good at it. Never much of a fan of Christmas songs, they were usually lame, she tilted her head, finding pleasure in every note of this version of Jingle Bells. It was almost hypnotic – which would have worried her more if she wasn't currently being hypnotised by it.

She came out of it in a rush, and so did Buffy, when one of the elves leapt from the trail and jumped onto the sleigh behind them. Spinning around, Faith saw it crouched in front of Oliver, who screamed his head off at the unexpected visitor. A snap kick sent it back up into the air and over the side where it landed in the snow, rolled once and then ran away clutching its chest.

Jan and Tim noticed nothing of the flash of violence as they laughed at their boy's reaction and tried to calm him down. Buffy gave Faith a 'well done' nod for dealing with the situation so swiftly. An hour ago it would have been condescending, but now she was feeling all loved up and with the adrenaline pumping through her, Faith just grinned.

"Silly, bub," Jan was saying as she cuddled Oliver to her. "He was just trying to say hello."

Obviously she hadn't seen the elf's razor sharp teeth up close like her son had!

"Look, he even brought you a present, Olly," Tim picked up a gift-wrapped package that had fallen to the floor of the sleigh.

Panicked, Buffy shouted, "Don't open that!"

Tim, trying to coax Oliver into cheering up with the shiny paper, looked up in alarm. "Why not?"

"Um."

Faith came to her rescue. "One of the Mom's earlier was talking about prank gifts. Yunno, things that go bang or pop up when you open them. Guess they're supposed to make the kids laugh but with Olly already so freaked . . ."

"Oh." Smiling, Tim held the package like he didn't know what to do with it now. "Thanks for the warning."

"Why don't I open it for you?" Buffy offered. "That way if it . . . goes bang," she said with a look at Faith. "I'll be the only one scared."

Tim handed it over gratefully and Buffy carefully unwrapped the paper. Nothing went bang, nothing did anything in fact, and after a few second of peering into the box she pulled out a small wooden train engine.

"Oh, I guess this wasn't one of the prank ones," Buffy said, obviously feeling stupid. "Do you want me to wrap it back up for him?"

"No, that's fine," Jan said with a smile. "Hey, Oliver, look what Buffy's got for you?"

Oliver turned to Buffy with big, wet eyes but they lit up in excitement at the sight of the toy.

* * *

The study was lit only by a desk lamp, giving the small room a cosy, secret-hiding-place feel, which technically it was so that worked out nicely.

Willow was pushed up against the edge of the desk, her butt sorta perched on it but with her toes still touching the carpet, and Kennedy's arms were tight and secure around her lower back, holding her close. They'd been kissing since about eight seconds after Kennedy had twisted the key in the lock and while Willow really wasn't complaining about this, they'd been 'hiding' for a while now and it was getting kinda intense.

Very intense, in fact. Kennedy's hands were sliding, rubbing, squeezing . . .

The sound of sudden braying laughter on the other side of the door jolted Willow from the moment, reminding her that there was a whole party going on just the other side of it.

"Gah-air-air," she spluttered, hands switching from resting on her girlfriend's shoulders to pushing at them.

Worried by her reaction, Kennedy moved backwards. "What's wrong?"

"Feeble human here!" she joked. "I need a more regular intake of oxygen than you."

"My lips were suffocating you?"

Willow grinned, "Yeah, but not in a bad way. Just in an 'I was about to die' way."

Kennedy regarded her dubiously in the soft light. "So you couldn't breathe that whole time?" She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I don't think that makes you feeble, baby. In fact being able to hold your breath for nearly a half hour actually makes you pretty amazing."

Willow's grin turned sheepish. "Not buying the lack of oxygen excuse, huh?"

"Not so much."

"Would you buy the 'I'm not real comfortable having sex on your Dad's desk' excuse?"

"What?" Kennedy stepped back even further, breaking all contact. "I'm not comfortable with that either!"

"But you were . . ." she pointed at her own butt. ". . . with the touch-y."

"You can't blame me for that. You try being me and not touching your ass when you get the chance. Can't be done. But I wasn't going to . . . to . . ." Kennedy grimaced. ". . . defile you _or_ the desk like that, Will."

"That's a relief. I thought we were entering dangerous psych. territory for a second there."

Kennedy wrapped her arms around her once more. "Do I look like a girl with daddy issues?"

"No, you're more of a mommy issue girl . . ." Kennedy's eyebrow twitched upwards, Willow backtracked, "Not that that's even an issue, at least not a relevant one, so . . . we were kissing?"

"Sure you want to risk it? I might throw you across my Step-Dad's leather chair and have my wicked way with you."

"For the record, the 'wicked way' part I'm good with, it's just the location that's skeeving me out."

Kennedy laughed, "So the car in a busy parking lot is fine but a locked study isn't just because it has a few pictures of my father on the walls?"

"Exactly. Plus the car windows were all steamed up."

Kennedy smiled at her, the love in her eyes so real and pure and strong it made Willow feel giddy with emotion. Willow didn't know why she'd spent so long trying to fight, ignore and deny this feeling, but she was glad that she'd had the sense to stop now.

"I'm not going to jump your bones in an office, Willow," Kennedy softly kissed her lips. "Not when we have my nice big bed upstairs just waiting for us, where we can take our clothes off. . ." Fingers flirted under the hem at the front of her shirt making Willow giggle and feel giddy for a whole 'nother reason. ". . . and take our time. We've wasted too much of that already and I never want to rush being close to you again."

"Me neither," Willow murmured, and kissed her, trying to convey as much emotion with her lips as Kennedy had with her eyes.

* * *

The fire was still burning strong when they rushed into the cabin, eager for warmth after so long in the cold. They stood in front of it together, soaking up the heat but not speaking, because they both knew what came next.

Eventually Buffy had to break the silence. "So, we should go to bed. Breakfast is at seven."

"Yeah." Faith fidgeted, holding her hands up to the flames and then rubbing them together. "Or we could have a drink first, like a night cap."

They each looked around the cabin but there was no alcohol in evidence.

Buffy sighed, "Guess that option's out."

Faith perked up hopefully as an idea came to her. "We could go to the bar? First round's on me."

Buffy thought about it, a drink or two would help her relax, but then again getting tipsy before she – gulp – shared a bed with Faith probably wasn't a good idea. Sure they'd shared a bed before, for a whole week in fact when Faith had first arrived in Boudenver, but things were just so much more strained between them now. Even being alone together in the room felt awkward.

"Actually, I'm feeling pretty sleepy. I think I might have jetlag."

Faith's laughter was warm, relaxing her some, "We're only ten miles away from home, B."

"I know, but there was all that flying to get here." Silence fell for a minute until Buffy nodded decisively. "I'm going to get into my pajamas."

"Okay."

Buffy grabbed them and went into the bathroom to change. While she was brushing her teeth she tried not to think about lying next to Faith all night but naturally that's all she could think of. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She really was tired; with any luck she'd fall asleep immediately. _Or_, she could end up lying there all night, totally awake and aware of Faith's every breath.

In the main room Faith was still standing by the fire but she'd turned to stare at the bed like it might attack her if she got to close. At least Buffy wasn't the only one nervous about it. It also gave her the opportunity to win the 'side of the bed' competition and she rushed around to the right side and scrambled beneath the heavy covers before pulling them up to her chin.

"Ha! Looks like you get stuck with the left side after all."

"Don't bet on it." Faith smirked at her.

Buffy braced herself to be physically ousted from her position but when Faith moved it was only to pull her jacket back on.

Disappointed, she asked, "Are you going for a cigarette?"

"Nah, gonna head to the bar for a few."

"Without me?"

"I did ask you to come," Faith reminded her irritably.

Buffy pushed the covers down and sat up. "Yes, but . . ."

She'd assumed that Faith was just as nervous-excited about sharing the bed together as she was, but now it turned out that Faith just couldn't wait to get away from her and the difficult situation. It didn't feel right to ask her to stay though, not when they were on a relationship time-out and the only thing she could offer was more awkwardness.

". . . It might not look very good if you're there without me." That was a good; it walked the fine line between the truth and a lie nicely. Unfortunately Faith didn't appreciate her genius.

"If anyone asks where you are I'll use your jetlag line. Say you're out for the count and I couldn't sleep or something."

They'd left their boots by the door and Faith slipped hers and bent to do up the laces. Buffy stared at the top of her head, trying to come up with another reason why Faith shouldn't leave.

"It might even be useful," Faith said without looking up. "I might overhear something about the elves."

"That's a long shot."

"Well, I'll get some of the staff talking then."

"Don't flirt!" Buffy said more abruptly than she meant to.

"I'm not an idiot!" Faith snapped back as she straightened up. "Far as they're concerned I'll be your doting girlfriend. Happy?"

Their cover had been the last thing on her mind just then but she nodded anyway. "Okay."

"See ya later then." Faith turned in the doorway. "And when I get back, you better believe that side's mine!" With a wink she left the cabin.

Buffy smiled once she was gone and settled down beneath the covers. The bed was _so_ cosy and warm. Yawning, she made up her mind to stay awake until Faith got back, because there was no way she was losing her comfy spot without a fight.

* * *

Santa looked around the Grotto with satisfaction. It was one of the nicer ones he'd stayed in this year. Eventually they all started to smell like the piss of small children of course and he hated that smell. The last place had stunk of it before he'd even arrived. The manager should have changed the name from Santa's Ski Resort to Santa's Last Resort, because he wouldn't be going there again next year unless he was particularly hungry en route to somewhere more appealing.

People just did not know how to treat the old gods anymore. He missed the days when he could just climb down a chimney to eat.

This one was perfect though. Both rustic and cosy, and at least half a mile from the centre of the resort. That was rare these days. At some point in the last half a century most managers had exchanged realism for convenience. He had been to one last year that had simply used a conference room decked out in tinsel and fairy lights! He hadn't been able to eat once during his stay. How were children suppose to believe in the magic of Christmas if they only had to walk down a corridor or across a courtyard to experience it?

"Are the reindeer settled?" he asked Innoki.

"Yes, sire. They have been fed and watered. The stable block is quite comfortable, although they are not very happy about sharing."

"I am not surprised; they are magical creatures in the presence of common mutts and deer-shaped donkeys." Sitting down in the red velvet armchair provided, he wriggled his voluptuous backside around as he evaluated its comfort level. "Now, the feast is almost upon us. Have you begun the preparations?"

"Yes, sire, the scouts are already out."

"And they all have a copy of the list?"

"They do, sire. By this time tomorrow they will have singled out all of the good children."

"Then thank Goodness. It irks me, Innoki, to be around these base, unmagical humans. I wish to be back in hibernation as soon as possible."

* * *

Trying hard to keep a bright smile on her face, Willow looked around the lavishly decorated room. It was still full of guests. She'd told Kennedy they should mingle, because that was what you were supposed to do at parties. Kennedy had reluctantly agreed, failing to pick up on the fact that Willow thought they should mingle _together_. Now her girlfriend was on the other side of the room talking to people she knew, and she was on _this_ side of the room not talking to people she didn't know.

She was actually okay with the not talking, although she was wishing more and more that Buffy and Xander were with her so she didn't look like a complete loser. As she was wondering if she should move about a bit so that she at least gave the impression of active mingling, a wave caught her eye.

Roxy was sitting on an antique wooden cocktail trolley against the far wall and she didn't un-slouch or look less bored as Willow approached.

"So, you enjoying your party?"

"It's nice." Willow glanced around again; it didn't look any less full of strangers from this angle. "A little unexpected."

"Yeah, sorry." Roxy didn't particularly look it. "I know Ken thinks I kept quiet deliberately but I seriously figured you'd have received some kind of polite notice of it, or at least a copy of the invite."

Willow shook her head.

Roxy picked a breadstick up from a plate of them by her thigh and gestured with it. "It's typical of Mom, though. Spending all this on a surprise party for Ken. Do you know she wouldn't even get _me_ a limo for the Winter Formal?"

"I think you mentioned it."

"And do you know what Dad's reaction to me mutilating myself was?" Sighing melodramatically, Roxy grabbed a handful of her dyed hair and pulled it around until she could see it. "'It's very pretty, sweetheart; blonde suits you.'"

"Well maybe be was just saying that," Willow offered sympathetically.

Roxy looked up, dark eyes flashing just like Kennedy's when she was angry, "You don't think my hair looks nice?"

"No, no, I do, it does, it's just . . ."

"You don't think it's enough?" Roxy guessed, stabbing the breadstick in Willow's direction. "Do you think I should cut it too? Or shave it off?"

"Are you sure you want to shave your head over a limo?" Willow grinned, "You might want to save some of that teenage rebellion for, you know, if you get grounded over grades or something."

"Are you saying I'm too stupid to get good grades?"

"_Oh, Hecate_," Willow gulped, wishing she could call on the Goddess for real to get her out of this conversation. "I didn't mean that you were stupid . . ."

"Chill, Willow, I'm just playing with you. Little sister's privilege, right? Gotta test out the new family member. Like I'd ever shave my head." She finally bit into her breadstick with a crunch and looked around as she chewed.

Willow chuckled nervously, "Heh, playing with me, that was fun, um, new family member?"

"Can you believe this though? Seriously. I bet you guys only wanted something small too, right? Fancy cocktail parties have never been Ken's thing but no expense can be spared when the prodigal daughter finally returns. I think it's a saving face thing. Mom and Dad were hella embarrassed when she just ran off like that without a word. I mean, sure Chuck had just died, but still . . ."

"Chuck?"

Roxy eyed her suspiciously for the first time. "She never told you about Chuck, her tutor? I thought you two were supposed to be as serious as it gets?"

"How serious is as serious as it gets . . ." Then it dawned on Willow who she was talking about. "Oh, you mean Charles her Wa . . . tor . . ."

"What?"

"No, not whator, _tutor_. I said tutor."

"Whatever." Roxy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it was just a few days after he was stabbed in that mugging that Ken took off."

"Right," Willow nodded uncomfortably. "I think she just needed some time."

"But a year? She wouldn't even give them a number to call until _August_."

That was because they hadn't really had a number until they'd arrived in Boudenver. Nobody had been allowed to give out Buffy's number towards the end and then they'd been moving around all summer. She couldn't explain that to Roxy though.

"Mom was worried stupid and guess who she took it out on?" Roxy grimaced and took another chunk from the breadstick before going on. "And it really didn't help when everyone kept asking where she'd disappeared to. Telling people she went off to 'find herself' pretty much adds up to 'turned her back on her family and everything they've done for her' around here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, plenty of these lovely people you've been meeting tonight . . ." With a sneer she waved the half of breadstick around at the guests. ". . . have disowned their kids for less."

Willow frowned, "Really?"

"For sure. But you fixed that."

"I did?"

"Oh yeah. Soon as Mom learned you were coming for the holidays she was able to switch the story. Kennedy went from being the runaway to the golden child in three seconds flat – all grown up and settled down. Just what Mommy always wanted and everyone here expects of their firstborn."

Willow knew from her Mom's comfortably middle class lectures that high society was traditional but it was hard imagining a Kennedy-shaped peg fitting into such a stifling hole as the one Roxy was describing.

"But we're not _settled down_. We only just got back together a few weeks ago."

"Yeah but you're on your way now right?"

"We are?"

"Duh, why else would Mom have thrown you this party?"

Willow was about to ask exactly that when Roxy hopped off of the cocktail trolley.

"Breadsticks are really dry. I'm gonna try and boost some champagne."

She'd walked off before Willow could get her question out.

* * *

The hotel bar was even more exclusive than the restaurant. Everyone was sitting in the plush armchairs around one of the three fireplaces or at the tables in the bay window nooks. They all seemed to have changed into the best clothes for the evening and Faith was still dressed in the jeans and sweater she'd been wearing all day.

Many of the couples looked up as she entered, as if she'd brought a cold draught or a _bad smell_ in with her. Those that caught her eye smiled politely before going back to their private conversations. Buffy had been right, more right than she knew actually; not only was it obvious to the other guests she'd come in alone, she stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to her clothes too.

She should have just stayed in the room with Buffy; hard as it was to believe, it would have been less uncomfortable than this.

She took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer.

"Would you like to choose a table, Madam? We'll bring it right over to you."

"Madam?" She smirked in disbelief. "Nah, I'm fine right here thanks."

That threw the young barman and his mouth hung open for a moment before he snapped it shut with a shake of his head. "As you wish." He turned to a fancy bottle cooler behind him and then placed a Bud Light in front of her.

She gave it a look, and then him the same one as she said, "I'm not driving."

"Excuse me?"

She gestured at the bottle. "I asked for a beer, not alcohol flavoured soda."

It took a minute but as comprehension dawned on him it also dawned on Faith that she shouldn't be making a fuss about the beer, it was just drawing attention. Then again, she'd done that just by walking in, so she might as well at least try and get a decent buzz out of a bad situation if she could.

The barman, by this point very bemused, removed the Bud Lite and put a regular Budweiser in its place, along with a glass, which he sort of nodded at with his chin as she went to take a sip straight from the neck of the bottle.

Sighing, she was a good little girl and poured half the beer into it. "It's just more glass cleaning for you, dude."

His lips twitched in a little smirk, but it didn't show in his voice as he said, "Enjoy your drink, Madam, and if you need anything else don't hesitate to holler, genteelly of course."

He gave her the ghost of a wink and then left to pour drinks at the other end of the long bar. Faith followed him with her eyes, smiling appreciatively at his ass as he bent to a low shelf. Her smile grew as he straightened up and caught her gaze but she only let the eye contact last for a second or two before turning away.

No flirting, Buffy had made that clear, but Faith had a mission. She couldn't go back to the cabin with no new information, and you had to give a guy a reason to grease his palm if you wanted to get anything out of him.

She made her beer last twenty minutes, keeping her back to the room but straining her sensitive hearing to catch shards from every conversation she could. No one seemed to be talking about killer elves but thankfully she didn't hear anyone talking about the lone chick at the bar either.

She caught the barman's eye a few times, accidentally on purpose, and then deliberately on purpose when her drink was gone. She tapped the side of her empty bottle and he came over at once, bringing a fresh bottle and glass with him.

"So are you enjoying your stay so far?"

"Can't complain." She leaned back on her stool, stretching her arms above her head, and watched his eyes stray downwards before springing back up to her face. "Pissed my girlfriend fell asleep so early though."

His eyes shaded with disappointment until he blinked them clear. "Oh, that's right, you're the lesbians in cabin seventeen."

She laughed, "Blunt; I like it. And bi, actually."

His cheeks reddened. "I didn't mean to be impertinent."

She shrugged, "Didn't know you were. So. . ." she read his shiny name-tag ". . . Greg, the bars where I come from are usually a little more lively than this. Did someone die or something?"

"No, why?" He looked to his left and right and then leaned on the edge of the bar, getting closer to her. "Did you hear something?"

"No," she said slowly, leaning closer too. "Did you?

He held her gaze and the moment filled with suspense before his eyes flicked away over her shoulder and something about his countenance changed. He stood back, grinning guilelessly.

"Sorry, we had a murder mystery weekend a few weeks ago. It's hard to get the role-playing out of your system sometimes."

He left to fill another drinks order and as soon as he'd stepped away Faith turned in her seat to look behind her. A manager-type was standing just inside the door, frowning at Greg. Suddenly his gaze was on Faith, but rather than be perturbed that she was staring at him, he just smiled and stepped back through the door.

Faith turned back to her fresh drink. It was impossible to tell what had just happened – maybe none of the staff were supposed to get to chatty with the guests or maybe Greg was a known slacker and the managers always kept an eye on him. Or _maybe _the manager knew who she was, and what she was doing here, and was warning Greg not to talk to her. Or it could have been a dozen other reasons.

Greg hadn't sounded like he was role-playing though – not that she knew him well enough to know that. So now her mission was pretty clear, she'd have to get to know him better to figure this shit out.

'_Sorry, B, hope you're not waiting up,' _she thought as she finished her glass quickly and signalled him for another drink.

* * *

The game of Go Fish had broken up once the Slayers had left for patrol. It was Rona's night off though, so Reece didn't have to leave the warmth of the house. Normally he went anyway, for the experience and because there were limited Watchers to go with the inexperienced girls, but with Robin in residence this week he was happy to relinquish the duty for once.

Robin wasn't an official Watcher, of course, but Reece had seen him train and had to admit, for now at least, the black man would be far more adept in a physical confrontation – if it ever came to that around here – than he.

Dawn was ecstatic to have him around for the whole evening and it was hard not to love the attention the young Summers' lavished on him. It would, of course, be much better if Harris hadn't stayed in the kitchen with them but the pointed look Reece had given him half an hour ago had only reinforced the man's insistence that he stay in the room.

Dawn was forbidden to go into the boys' dormitory at night – something she reluctantly abided by because it kept her sister off of her back the rest of the time – and he could only imagine the wrath he would bring down on his head if he ever entered her room after dark. He thought about suggesting they go and watch telly in the living room but he knew Naomi and Rona were with Mr. Giles in his office, researching, and the door was probably open, and it would be even worse snogging Dawn in front of the senior Watcher than it would be in front of Harris.

So they made do with playing footsy under the table while they played round after round of Snap with Andrew and Craig, and Xander read the paper at the other end of the table, sipping on a beer.

"Any of you know anything about sports?" he suddenly asked as he stared down at the small newsprint on one of the back pages.

"Football, rugby, cricket or tennis?" Reece asked, not looking at him.

"Hockey," Xander clarified.

"I played hockey in school," Craig piped up.

Reece sneered at him, "Are you soft? That's a girl's game! Wait, I forgot who I was talking to."

The animosity between them had dulled since they'd been forced to live together but it would never truly die.

"Get a hockey stick around your ankles and then tell me it's soft," Craig sniped back.

"I think Xander means Ice Hockey anyway," Dawn said diplomatically.

She played the pacifier between them a lot, he'd noticed. So did Andrew, but to a lesser extent because he knew the boy didn't like him much and so tended to take Craig's side even when he was trying to be the voice of reason. The four of them often hung out together now because Dawn genuinely seemed to like Craig, much to Reece's puzzlement.

In the beginning he'd assumed it was for Andrew's sake, because the two of them had been friends since they'd left their hometown in rubble, but the more time they all spent together the more obvious it became that Dawn and Craig had clicked on some level. In fact, with the exception of Buffy – who still kept a distance between herself and Craig – and Faith – who barely seemed to notice any of them were there unless she actually had to talk to them – everyone at the camp had taken to Craig. Reece couldn't understand it; the lad was a twat after all. And in contrast hardly any of them seemed to have the time of day for _him._

He wasn't an idiot; he knew he could be an arsehole sometimes. And he understood why Buffy didn't much care for him – he was shagging, or trying to at any rate, her little sister. And he could see why Giles was hard on him – none of the Masters at the Academy would have let him get away with the stunt he'd tried to pull earlier either. And, well, Harris – there was as much mutual animosity between them ever since the man had gripped him up against the wall in the dorm as there was between he and Craig. Everyone else, though? Oh, Kennedy and Rona both gave him a certain amount of grudging respect since Halloween but it wasn't on a personal level.

He'd always been the popular one, at primary school and at the Academy, and he wasn't quite sure why that had changed so drastically since he'd moved to the States. It was hardly any wonder he basked in Dawn's attention, was it?

The phone rang, jolting his attention back into the conversation.

"I know they play it on ice," Andrew was saying unhelpfully.

"Now who's calling?" Dawn asked, checking her watch. "It's nearly ten."

"Might be Buff calling to check in," Xander said as he rose from the table.

"She hasn't done that yet?" Now Dawn sounded worried. "But they've been gone hours. What if something . . .?"

Reece reached across the table and took her hand. "They're at a five star resort, remember? They were probably having fun and forgot the time."

He felt Dawn relax through the contact of their hands and then she smiled at him. "I guess. Thanks. I just worry about her, I know it's stupid."

"It's not stupid. It's nice that you care so much about your sister, but you know she can take care of herself." He gave her his most reassuring smile and, as her eyes lit up playfully, knew the seductive undertones of it were just a bonus. "Besides, she has Faith with her. They'll be fine together."

"Thanks," she said again, rubbing her socked foot up to his shin. "What would I do without you?"

"Can I ask who's calling?" Xander said into the phone.

"Um, Buffy and Faith together might be fine from the Hellhounds," Andrew said. "But are we sure they're safe from each other?"

"Yeah, I saw them at breakfast," Craig mock-shivered. "Not a happy couple."

Dawn looked worried all over once more, "What if Faith was just waiting to get her all alone to try and kill her again?"

Inwardly cursing Craig and Andrew, Reece squeezed her hand. "They'll be fine. They like each other too much to do anything like that. It's just relationship drama . . ."

"Reece, it's for you." Xander held the phone out to him. "Some girl called Patricia."

Reece froze, and then cursed himself for freezing because Dawn detected it through their joined hands.

At first, she just asked curiously, "Who's Patricia?"

His mouth opened but he didn't have a ready excuse. He closed it, swallowed, and then tried again, but by that time Dawn's grip had already stiffened around his own.

"Reece?"

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	12. Act 3:4

_Hiya. Sorry for the short delay; I've been frantically rewriting in the wings. Thanks for the reviews :)_

* * *

The bar had closed for the night ten minutes before but rather than heading back to cabin seventeen, Faith walked beside Greg towards the rear of the hotel for some after hours entertainment. The ground here had been cleared of snow and their footsteps rang out sharply in the freezing air as they crossed a courtyard to the entrance of a narrow alley that was lit only by the overlooking shade-less windows of the kitchen. The alley smelled like dirty water and food scraps and the rumbling of a heavy duty dishwasher could be heard along with the metallic clinking of cutlery being cleared away.

Faith hadn't been counting the number of beers she'd had. After realising that she'd have to get Greg away from work to learn anything useful, she'd decided to stick around until his shift was over but having no one to talk to had left her with nothing to do but drink and think about the situation with Buffy. Wanting to avoid the thinking as much as possible had left her drinking a lot faster than usual but the number of empty bottles she'd racked up hadn't been high enough to dull her sense of smell or her wits. She tensed as they entered the dark space, one fist curling and creeping up her body in case she needed it fast. She wasn't really considering Greg a threat, but she'd been asking a lot of questions back at the bar and she knew her brand of snooping lacked subtlety sometimes.

Besides, dark alley, way too charming to be real guy . . . if he had plans to try and take this play-date to a place she didn't want to go she might need her fist anyway to discourage him.

The low, steady drone of sound became thumping and irregular. At first Faith thought a nickel had wound up in the dishwasher but a few steps more distinguished it as a heavy bass line coming from the other end of the alley. Up ahead a door opened, a departing employee (non-elf) was silhouetted within the sudden rectangle of light and a surge of loud rap music escaped into the night before the door closed again.

Faith relaxed, chuckling, and gestured ahead of them, "Why am I getting a serious Dirty Dancing vibe right now?"

"Well, you said you wanted some fun." Greg turned to shoot her a wink as he reached to open the door for her. "Don't tell me you don't dance?"

Faith smirked at him and nodded for him to go in first. Their walk had been a short one but the air was icy enough to take your breath away. The blast of heat and smoke as she walked through the door took it away all over again.

She took a look around with a sarcastic smirk, "Nice."

"Hey, what did you expect?" he bumped her shoulder with his arm. "We don't get the five star treatment, we just work here."

The staff room was a cabin but it didn't look anything like the one she was sharing with Buffy. There were a half dozen cafeteria tables with plastic chairs around each and two scruffy red and grey striped couches were positioned around an eighteen inch television screen in the corner. The TV was on; tuned to Beverly Hills Cop and Eddie Murphy's mouth was moving a thousand miles a minute. Eminem on the stereo drowned out the dialogue with his own. There was no dirty dancing going on but the space was crowded with people drinking, smoking and having fun. Despite her sarcasm, Faith felt at home.

There was a card game in session at one of the tables and Greg introduced her to the guys and girls playing with a, "Hey, this is Faith."

Everyone looked up to say 'Hey'.

One of the guys, drunker than her, stood up to shake her hand and then peered at her more closely. "Hey, it's the lezzer! Gotta tell ya, your girlfriend's _hot_!"

Faith's smirk tightened as she stepped back in mock indignation, pointing to herself. "Hotter than me?"

He looked her up and down, slowly enough that she almost punched him for needing so long to think about it, but when he met her eyes again he was grinning. "I'd say you were a good match."

"We like to think so," she lied then took his seat at the table. "So what are we playing here?"

* * *

Kennedy waved goodbye to some more guests at the front door, promising to visit them before she went back to Cleveland, before going in search of her girlfriend.

Willow was saying goodbye to guests herself, all cheerful and awkward as they wished her a Merry Christmas and a pleasant stay, inviting her over for cocoa and promising that 'so-and-so' would love to meet her. Willow wished them all a Happy Hanukah but ummed and ahhed nervously over the invitations.

Kennedy hung back, just enjoying watching her. Once Willow was alone, she wandered up behind her, circling her waist with her arms and resting her chin on the taller woman's shoulder.

"You could have come over and saved me, you know?"

"One day this is all going to be mine," Kennedy raised a hand to wave at the house and the remaining guests. "So you need to get used to being the Belle of the Ball."

"Won't Roxy get half?"

"She can fight me for it." She nuzzled Willow's neck. "We know who'll win. So, you ready to go upstairs?"

"Wouldn't that be rude?"

There were still guests in the room, showing no signs of being ready to leave, but it was late and Kennedy knew that soon all the men would disappear into the other lounge with her Step-Dad to drink scotch and talk business and the women would wind up in the kitchen with her Mom and a bottle or two of wine, bitching about the men. There was no reason for them to stick around.

She said as much to Willow, who seemed more than ready to give in afterwards. Kennedy took her hand to lead her into the foyer and they both called goodnight to Roxy who was sitting in an arm chair with a can of coke and a bowl of chips. She was sulking, Kennedy could tell by the roll of her eyes as she said goodnight back. She didn't know why, but then Roxy could sulk about grass being green if she was in that kind of mood, and right now Kennedy didn't care. All she wanted to do was be alone with Willow. Since they'd pulled their relationship up by the bootstraps in that parking lot, all she ever wanted to do was be alone with Willow and she couldn't see how that could be a bad thing. They were in love now, and not only did they both know it, for the first time since they'd met they were both happy to go with it.

The last year had been bumpy, what with apocalypses and Oz, but Kennedy was past all that badness. The way she felt now, Oz wasn't even a blip on her radar, and even though she knew he would still be in their lives – one of the reasons she had wanted to take it slow, just in case nothing had changed – she couldn't imagine being jealous of him ever again. It just wasn't possible to feel anything negative about what she had with Willow now.

She was done, she realised, smiling gently. She was with the person she'd be with for the rest of her life and it was a really good feeling.

"So do you know what I realised earlier?" Willow asked as they crossed the foyer to the stairs.

"What?"

"Tonight's our anniversary!"

"Huh?" Kennedy, kicking herself for forgetting, counted back months quickly and was relieved to find that Willow was wrong. "We didn't start dating until January."

"No, but a year ago today you turned up on our doorstep, all waif-like and cocky."

Kennedy thought about it again and realised that Willow was right. She and Molly and Annabelle had arrived in Sunnydale with Giles on December 23rd last year. It didn't seem that long ago, definitely not a whole year. Her two travel companions flashed into her mind, both dead now, and she squeezed her eyes shut to will them away. It didn't work so well, but she didn't want to dwell on them now when she was about to be alone with Willow. Thinking about dead friends would really put a downer on what she had planned.

So she distracted herself. "Can you be cocky and waif-like at the same time?"

Willow mused on it for a moment. "I guess not." She grinned again. "Maybe you were all cocky and hot-like instead."

That worked. "Hot-like? You thought I was hot when you first saw me?"

They were at the top of the stairs now but Kennedy stopped just ten feet from her bedroom as she asked her question, wanting to be looking into Willow's eyes as she answered.

"Totally hot! The other two were all meek and shy and then there was you." Willow's hands caressed her sides before resting just above her hips. "All force of nature-y. I felt so guilty because I couldn't keep my eyes off of you."

"If it helps with the guilt, I couldn't keep my eyes off of you either."

Willow smiled and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips. "So, happy anniversary."

Kennedy grinned and then took Willow by surprise by pressing her against the wall with the length of her body, and keeping her there with her lips. When Willow 'mmm'd' against her lips in appreciation, Kennedy nearly forgot where they were. Somehow she found the presence of mind to pull back from Willow's delicious kisses because fooling around in the upstairs hallway would probably be worse than doing it in her Dad's study.

"Happy anniversary," she murmured back and nodded her head towards her suite of rooms. "Wanna go celebrate it properly?"

Willow nodded, "Uh huh!"

Kennedy took her hand again to lead her there but couldn't take her eyes off of Willow as they walked. Willow was the same, which was why they were almost at the door before Kennedy saw her Mom standing in front of it with her arms crossed.

"Oh, hey!" she said, caught off guard. "We were tired so . . ." Seeing her Mom's expression she added quickly, "We said goodbye to everyone before we came up."

Her Mom stayed leaning against her bedroom door as she smiled. "That was very polite of you, thank you. I'm not surprised you're both tired, with the travelling. You must both want to get to sleep as soon as possible."

Kennedy nodded and waited for Mom to get out of the way. She didn't. "So, we're going to go to bed now."

"Okay," her Mom uncrossed her arms and pushed off of the door before turning to open it. "Let's get Willow settled in."

Kennedy stared after her as her Mom entered the suite ahead of them. Finally she got it together enough to ask, "Huh?"

"Oh, didn't I say?" her Mom said cheerfully as she crossed the small living room to open the bedroom door. "I had the bed in the guest room downstairs made up for you, Kennedy."

She blinked a few times. "But we never use the guest room downstairs."

"Which is why I had to have the bed made up down there." She turned to Willow. "I know it can be a little weird spending the night in a strange place but you'll be comfortable in here. The bed's from Sweden. But if you need anything in the night just pick up the phone and dial zero. Heidi's on call all night and she'll get you anything you need. She's from Sweden too."

"Okay," Willow squeaked. She stood there looking unsure for a moment but then rushed into the bedroom before turning to face them. "I feel comfortable already."

Kennedy grinned at her before glaring at her Mom. "She won't need Heidi. I'll be here."

"No, you'll be downstairs. I'm no fool, Ken, I know exactly what you'll be up to if I let you share the bedroom."

Kennedy didn't blink for a full minute, she was that baffled. Behind her Mom, Willow looked embarrassed but Kennedy couldn't imagine why.

"We've lived together for a year but you won't let us share a room?"

"Exactly."

"But . . . we're together. You know that!"

"I do, and I'm very happy for you, but you broke up a short time ago which makes me think you can't be that serious . . ."

"Mom!"

". . . and so as your mother I'm going to insist you sleep in separate rooms until I know you are. I wouldn't let Roxy have one of her boyfriends sleep in her bedroom either."

"Roxy's sixteen!"

"But you're both my daughters so you get the same treatment."

"You've never cared about my girlfriends sleeping in my room before!"

"And as you've pointed out to me many times, Hun, I've made a lot of mistakes with your previous girlfriends. I don't want to repeat them. I'm sure you can understand that."

Kennedy glared at her Mom, who continued to smile back. Willow was still hovering nervously just inside the bedroom.

"It's our anniversary!" she tried.

"I heard, congratulations. Sounds like even more reason to keep you apart tonight," her Mom grinned, clearly not realising how serious this was.

Kennedy was silent for a while, but she kept up the glaring. She knew she was beat; there were only two people she couldn't stare down, Buffy and her Mom. Oh, and Faith, so there were three people that she'd never win a staring match with.

So eventually she looked away before wheedling, "Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind? Shovel the driveway? Sing Christmas carols? Go visit Grandma?"

"Wow, you must be serious . . . ly horny," her Mom joked.

"Mom! Don't use that word!" Kennedy shouted, but she noticed Willow was grinning again, bright red mind you, but still grinning.

"My mind's made up, Kennedy. Until you two can prove how serious you think you are you're sleeping downstairs."

"But . . ."

"Goodnight, Willow," her Mom said firmly, taking Kennedy's arm. "Sleep well. Don't be shy to call Heidi if you need to, she's on double time tonight."

Kennedy could have shaken her Mom's hold off, could have thrown her right out the door and locked it if she'd wanted to, but it was her mom so she didn't. She didn't exactly go meekly though, her Mom had to drag her out by her arm.

"Sorry about this, Will!" she called over her shoulder. "My Mom's gone crazy! G'night. I love you!"

"I love you too!" was the last thing she heard before her Mom pulled the door to her suite closed.

Now she shook her off and stalked away. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Kennedy, I love you, and as Roxanne pointed out to me earlier you don't realise it because I let you get away with everything."

"Rox did this?" she fumed.

"Leave your sister alone," her Mom said. "She was right. You do get away with everything. You ran off to LA without a word. Then you moved to Cleveland without telling us about that either."

"I moved to Sunnydale, not LA, and it was smaller than Queens and had a population the size of West Hampton!"

"But you didn't tell us where you were going."

Kennedy ignored that, because how she could answer it without lying? "And Boudenver has less people living there than there were at this party tonight! I'm not living a wild life, Mom, honestly. If anything my life is more boring now than it ever was in New York."

That was true of Boudenver at least. Aside from the occasional vampire or lizard demon, the most she had to contend with was lust spells and Halloween parties.

"Then why do you do it?"

Her answer was both the truth and a lie, "Because of Willow."

"So you two really are serious," her Mom said as she shepherded her down the stairs and towards the usually unused guest room at the back of the house – about as far from where Willow was sleeping as was possible without making her sleep in the back kitchen.

"Like an uber-vamp," she replied without thinking. Seeing her Mom about to question the phrase, Kennedy caught up and added, "Very serious."

"Then I'm sure you and Willow will be sharing a bed before you know it. But not tonight! Heidi's on double time for a reason. Sweet dreams, Honey." She bent down to kiss Kennedy's cheek.

"Goodnight," Kennedy said, resigned to spending the night alone.

She closed the door and her nose wrinkled at the musty smell of the room, but she ignored it and headed straight for the bed. This blew! She'd been really looking forward to a night of passion with Willow and now . . .

As Kennedy shed her clothes and climbed between the fresh sheets, she knew she had to find a way to convince her Mom that they were more than serious enough to share a bed. Otherwise she'd be stuck down in this cold room alone for their entire vacation.

* * *

Buffy fidgeted on the bed and pulled the covers taut over her knees as she listened to her Watcher scold her over the telephone.

When she could get a word in over the British ranting, she said, "I would have called earlier but we've been kinda busy, Giles. The resort has an itinerary that's even more intensive than yours! Although, way more fun," she admitted, before excitedly gushing, "Did you know they have husky rides through the snow?"

"_Buffy, you are not there to have fun! You must not enjoy the huskies until after you have . . ."_

"Too late. Besides it was work-related. We were doing recon."

"_Ah,_" he said, slightly mollified. _"And what did you see?"_

"Wait, you made me get ahead of myself with all your scolding. Faith and I are pretty sure we're not dealing with Hell Hounds after all."

"I've come to the same conclusion myself, although I'm afraid I haven't been able to come up with another theory yet."

"We have!" she said triumphantly. "It's elves."

"_Elves? But . . ." _

He stopped talking but she could hear paper rustling and imagined him flicking rapidly through the pages of a book. She pushed her legs flat so that the blankets made a hollow tent above them and then she poked a finger into the middle, making a crater. What was Faith doing right now? Probably not making bed-cover volcanoes and listening to an old guy umming and ahhing over the phone. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she glanced at the clock and noted that she'd been alone for nearly three hours. Faith had better not be making bed-cover volcanoes considering she definitely wasn't in her own bed right now.

"_Elves,_" Giles repeated. _"Are you sure? There are very few documented cases of them associating with humans from what I can tell. Not that the books I have here say much about them at all! We're still a long way from replacing my collection in Sunnydale and with the Council's main library in ashes . . . Honestly, the books we have now are a travesty! I don't know how we're expected to save anyone with . . . "_

"Giles, focus!"

"_Yes, quite, sorry. If only Willow were here to help. I can still hardly find my way around this blasted machine she forced me to buy. I really should not have let her go while we have such a situation on our hands."_

"Willow needed a break. She nearly died last month from that spell and you know she's still feeling low about her magick. A week away with nothing to do but Kennedy is exactly what she needs." There was a pause on the line and Buffy grinned. "Are you cleaning your glasses right now?"

"_No," he said firmly, "and nor do I disagree, but she really couldn't have picked a worse week."_

"There's never a good week. So what else _do_ your books tell you?" Slayer of the twenty-first century she was, but she still trusted Giles' ancient books more than the internet when it came to demon lore. "You said they don't associate with humans but then how much associating do you need to do to bite the heads off of little children?"

"_True, but the passage I've found says that they are, but for one or two notable exceptions, a benign race. They are helpers, in fact. People used to leave milk out for them because it was believed if they came close enough to your home they would bring good luck."_

"I'm thinking the ones around here aren't so much about the bringing of good luck."

"_Perhaps not. How many have you seen? Was it just the one or . . ."_

"Try one hundred! Or fifty at least. They were tracking our bus as we drove to the resort."

"_Oh dear."_

"Exactly." Buffy shuffled her feet under the covers before pulling her knees up again. "Faith and I are going to patrol on foot tomorrow now that we think we have an idea of where they were sprouting from. Maybe we'll get lucky and find the giant spotted toadstool they live in."

"_I think that's gnomes."_

"Really? I was just making the toadstool up."

"_No, I'm pretty sure gnomes live in toadstools."_

"So many little people, it's hard to keep track."

They had the thought at the same time.

"Beryan!"

"_The Piskies!"_

Buffy smiled and imagined Giles doing the same at Sunset Camp.

"_I'll have someone talk to them first thing in the morning." _

"Why not do it yourself?"

"_Buffy, the last time I interacted with our__** little friends**__ I was taken prisoner, knocked unconscious and cast into oblivion."_

She had to chuckle, "You're scared of the Pixies?"

"_Not scared, just . . . wary_." Giles cleared his throat. "_Anyway, if you have nothing else to report I'll let you get back to your evening."_

"Okay." She didn't want to be left to get back on with her evening, not when she was alone and Faith was out doing who knew what. "Wait, how's Dawn? Is she behaving herself?"

"_Dawn's fine . . . physically at least."_

Uh oh, she wished she hadn't asked now. "What's wrong?"

"_I'm not sure exactly. She had a falling out with Reece earlier and stormed upstairs, but Vi and Rona are with her now."_

"Oh." It was hard to feel bad about her little sister having an argument with her creep of a boyfriend. It was all she could do not to jump out of bed and do a little cheer. "Well, as long as she's not alone. How's everyone else?"

"_Everyone seems fine. Alex called to invite us on the wolf hunt tomorrow which is good news."_

"Even though we're not hunting Hell Hounds now?"

"_But you never know what else we might turn up out there and, besides, I'm just happy the people in town are starting to accept us. It will make life much easier for . . ."_

Buffy suddenly heard boots stamping right outside the door. "Sorry, Giles, gotta go! Bye!"

She cancelled the call and turned off the bedside light at the same time. Chucking her phone on the nightstand, she snuggled down beneath the covers and pretended to be asleep.

The key scraped against the lock twice before sliding in and Buffy raised an eyebrow in the dark. It was a big key with a big keyhole to match; it shouldn't have been that tricky. Once the door was open, Faith plodded heavily in with a rush of freezing air, causing Buffy to bury even deeper under the covers.

The door slammed shut and Faith muttered an apology to it. Buffy raised her other eyebrow. Faith was drunk!

She tensed under the covers with the effort of not saying anything as she listened to Faith stumbling around while trying to get her boots off without undoing the laces. The room was almost completely dark but there was just enough light coming from the dying fire to see Faith hopping from the side of the bed to the wall and back again as she quietly cursed about her boot.

Buffy bit her lip to stifle her giggle and strained her eyes harder to see what Faith would do next. It turned out to be pitching face first onto the floor, too busy yanking at her boots to save herself. Buffy snorted in amusement and then pulled the covers up over her nose to subdue any more evidence of her laughter. Faith was lost in shadow at the side of the bed and Buffy couldn't look at her now without drawing attention so she made do with listening. Faith's cursing had increased, mostly about her bruised nose, but she still kept her voice very low so as not to disturb Buffy's fake slumber – it was sweet.

Faith used her time on the floor to remember how boots worked and Buffy listened as they were unlaced and then pulled off with what sounded like a great deal of effort. She grunted in satisfaction once she was free of the heavy boots and got back to her feet. Attempting to kick the boots to the side, out of the way, made her stagger and begin cursing again over a stubbed toe.

Faith started to strip then in the near-darkness and Buffy watched, holding her breath with trepidation and delight as, layer by layer, Faith got naked. It was only as the other slayer discarded her underwear that Buffy realised what this meant. There was no way she was sharing the bed with a completely naked Faith! As much as naked and Faith in the same sentence pleased her no end, this wasn't happening! But she didn't say anything, keeping quiet and still beneath the blankets.

Faith straightened up, swaying slightly, and looked at the bed. Buffy closed her eyes quickly, hoping Faith hadn't noticed them being open in the first place.

"Now which side's the right?" Faith wasn't totally slurring her words but it was close.

No way.

Faith seemed to take ages to think about it before Buffy finally felt hands on the bed just inches from her.

No way!

The covers were pulled at and even though Buffy felt like she'd been holding onto them like an eighteenth century virgin, she couldn't keep her grip. The blankets were thrown back and Faith had a knee up on the bed when Buffy finally buckled.

"Faith, no!"

"Huh?"

Faith startled at her voice, swaying from side to side even more than she had been on two feet. Buffy almost hoped she'd fall flat on the floor again but she kept her balance by gripping the mattress.

"Buff, you're awake! You missed a hell of a night. I played cards with them!"

"The elves?"

Faith laughed, "Nah, with the . . . the, what do you call 'em, people that like, uh, pour drinks and . . . do stuff."

"The staff?"

"No, the stuff!"

"The staff do the stuff!"

"What stuff? We was just drinking."

Buffy opened her mouth to either yell in exasperation or laugh her butt off at the total confusion showing on Faith's face, she really wasn't sure which, but Faith leaning more of her weight on the bed brought her back on topic fast.

"Where have you been, Faith?"

"I went back to the dirty dancing room after Greg finished his shift."

There was nothing about that sentence that didn't make Buffy's stomach plummet. "And what did you do there?"

"Duh, played cards! I won, I think. If there's fifty bucks in my pocket I did." Faith patted her bare hips and thighs, searching for pockets, before giving up with a shrug.

"So I've been sitting here alone while you were playing cards and getting drunk?"

"Yeah." Something in Buffy's expression must have fought its way through her drunken haze because she quickly added. "I got info on the elves!"

"Like what?"

Faith was still swaying with one knee up on the bed, still very naked. It was getting really hard for Buffy to concentrate. The only thing that was stopping her from doing something stupid was the drunken chatter, which was managing to be both too annoying and amusing to be sexy.

"Like, uh, they . . . they don't work for the resort. Greg said they only employ humans to dress like elves."

"You asked him about the elves?"

"No! I . . . Maybe. I made it sound like I was joking, I think. He definitely thought I was messing with him," she added, nodding a lot. "Anyways, he said the elves work for Santa."

Buffy's eyes widened and then she tilted her head on the pillow almost sympathetically. "I think that was him messing with you."

"No!" Faith giggled hard. It was such an unexpected sound coming from big, bad Faith that Buffy found it adorable, even if she had to put up with drunk-Faith to enjoy it. "The Santa they hired for the week, I mean. They rent a Santa to give the kids presents and the elves come free."

Buffy pulled a face. "So they latch themselves onto some jolly, old, fat guy and eat the kids he's trying to make happy? That's gotta be the lowest of the low!"

Faith nodded again. "We should get G to see if this same Santa has been used at the other resorts. Might help us pinpoint where they're coming from. Greg didn't know what company they used."

Buffy was more interested in where this _Greg _had come from, he seemed to be in Faith's every other sentence, but she bit her tongue. "Yeah, we'll call him tomorrow."

"So, I did good, right?" Faith asked, grinning.

"Professionally, yes. But coming back at half-past midnight out of your skull doesn't do you any favours with me."

Faith looked confused for a moment but then she grinned again. "You'll get over it when my intel helps us nail those elf bastards. Now move over."

"No way."

"Told you I was taking the right side, B."

"This is the left side."

That confused Faith enough that she had to lean back and look around, doing some complicated 'left' 'right' math in her head. "No it's not!"

Laughing, Buffy pushed her back when she tried to just climb in. "I'm not moving. I've made this spot all warm and cosy now."

"I know, why do you think I want it?"

"You're not having it!

"Yes I am!"

They were almost wrestling now as Faith managed to unsteadily get both knees up on the bed. Their hands were clasped as they pushed against each other for dominance. Faith might have been drunk but she still had plenty of strength and the advantage of leaning over her and Buffy swiftly surmised it was only a matter of time before she lost and Faith wriggled her way into her space.

Faith didn't seem to realise this herself and gave up unexpectedly. "Fine, you can stay there."

Buffy breathed a sigh of victory. "Thank you."

"We'll share the right side!" Faith flopped full length over her and squirmed as if she was trying to make her Buffy-mattress more comfortable.

Buffy gasped twice, once in surprise at the full contact and then again with desire, thanks to the squirming. She gripped Faith's arms and tried to push her off but Faith had made herself a dead weight over the top of her, her arms pushed under the pillow Buffy's head was on to anchor her and her chin comfortably nestled in the crook of her neck.

"Faith, move!"

"I'll move to let you shift over, but that's it."

"I'm not shifting over! You shift over."

"No can do, B, I'm hella comfy right now." To prove it Faith's voice was already drowsy.

"You can't sleep on top of me!"

There were many reasons why, but the only one Buffy could think of right now was because there was no way she'd be able to sleep like this. She could barely think straight like this! One of Faith's legs had slipped snugly between her own and even breathing was difficult right now because each shallow, excited exhale caused slight friction which was sending a certain low down tickle crazy. How many lonely nights since September had she fantasised about having a naked Faith in her bed? Probably nearly all of them. But she'd waited, building up her own anticipation so that their next time together – which she was planning on calling their 'new first time' – would be fantastic. Was she really going to make all of those empty nights, all of their arguments too, pointless by giving into urges now just because Faith was a stubborn drunk and _she_ was a stubborn sober?

No, she wasn't. Their new first time would be special, dammit, and special did not include Faith being so hammered she probably wouldn't even remember it in the morning. This situation was awkward but not dire, she could control herself, it was just lust, and lust wasn't that powerful, right? If Faith wouldn't move on her own, Buffy would just roll to the side and make her fall off of her. Simple. She put her hands on Faith's back, to steady her as she rolled sharply to the left, but then snatched them away again at once. Faith's back was all warm and smooth and, more importantly, bare, and that was not the way the controlling of lust lay.

She tried something different. "Faith, I'm not comfortable with you lying on top of me."

"Sure you are," Faith murmured.

Buffy couldn't find the resolve to deny it because, physically at least, she'd never been so comfy. Faith wasn't heavy, just snuggily.

"I meant because we're on that break, remember? We shouldn't be this close right now."

"S'okay, B, I'm not gonna try anything. I just wanna sleep."

Faith's breath was warm and enticing on the side of her neck, pushing any idea of sleep far from Buffy's mind. She closed her eyes tight and gritted her teeth for a moment, willing the naughty thoughts away again.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. And it's a good deal, full of compromise and both of us getting at least half of what we want, so you have to pick one."

Faith took a while answering and Buffy thought she had already fallen asleep, but then she muttered, "I have to pick a deal?"

"Okay, so it's not so much a deal, it's more of a multiple choice quiz. Well, not really a quiz, more of a . . . a . . . I'm going to give you two options, very fair options considering I did call dibs on this side first."

There was another pause before Faith murmured, "I'm listening."

"Promise you'll pick one."

Faith sighed and snuggled even deeper into her neck, "Cross my heart, B."

"Good. Option one, I'll give you the right side but you have to put your pajamas on. Option two, you can stay naked but you have to move to the left side."

Faith groaned, "That's cheating, you know I don't own pajamas!"

"So what were you planning to wear to bed all this week?"

"What I'm wearing now."

It was like a cold wet sponge had been squeezed over her desire. "God, Faith! Didn't you think that might be inappropriate considering how things are between us? Didn't you think about my feelings at all?"

"No, I just didn't think of pajamas! Jeez!" Faith pushed herself off of Buffy and slid off of the side of the bed. "Why do you have to make a drama out of everything?"

Faith went to the wardrobe and yanked open the doors. Buffy thought she had sobered up until she almost fell head first into it. By the dying light of the fire she watched Faith rummage in her bag on the floor and then she was pulling on a tight t-shirt and a pair of panties.

She stalked back to the right side of the bed. "Happy? Now move!"

Buffy had made the deal and now she had no choice but to honour it. She started to slide reluctantly across the big bed and Faith was in her warm patch with the covers pulled up to her ears before she was even half way across.

Sighing silently, she moved the rest of the way over to the left side. The sheets were cold and unwelcoming, chilling her previously toasty body, and this pillow seemed lumpy compared to the one she'd left behind. Oh, and there was a complete lack of playful, snuggily Faith on this side of the bed. Actually there was a complete lack of playful, snuggily Faith in the bed; only angry, stone-like Faith was left, with the covers pulled up as high as they'd go and her back turned to Buffy like a wall to keep her out.

Buffy could lay there and berate herself for causing the drama, for pushing Faith away again when it had been a perfect opportunity for them to get closer, all night, but how would that help them? Especially when she could hear Faith already snoring softly. So she turned over and tried to get comfortable again so that she could fall asleep too.

Obviously that didn't happen soon, so she did the berating thing anyway – it helped pass the time.

* * *

_Thanks for reading :)_


	13. Act 3:5

Sorry for the long delay again. I promise it wasn't due to lack of interest or attention, I've not done much but write this episode all month, I just had to get ahead of myself again before I could release any more into the wild. I'm gonna get back to individual replies as soon as, but for now a collective Thank You for all the wonderful reviews I've been getting recently, they really help in keeping me focused on this series and, you know, they're just plain awesome too :) Thanks.

* * *

The next morning Buffy awoke in much better spirits. She was warm and cosy and the bed had become ridiculously comfortable overnight. She knew without opening her eyes that it was still dark outside so she tried to fall back to sleep, but the next second the thing that had roused her in the first place rang again.

It was probably Giles, calling with info. She should sit up and answer the call but it was _still_ dark! And she was _so _comfy! How could it hurt to get the info just an hour later?

She was still arguing with herself – 'Get up!' 'No!' 'It could be important!' 'I don't care!' "Answer the phone!' 'But my pillow smells so good!' – when the ringing stopped and she heard Faith's throaty morning voice say: "Hey".

Buffy didn't move except to languidly stretch while she listened to the short conversation. She was a little concerned with how her toes grazed deliciously down a smooth leg that was not her own but was distracted from it when she heard Faith put the receiver back down.

"Giles?" she asked.

"Wake up call. Breakfast is in an hour."

"An hour? But it's still night time!" She finally opened her eyes and was startled to find Faith's face just a few inches from her own. A few inches _above_ her own. She swivelled her eyes down to her nose and chuckled nervously. "Heh, look at that. I seem to be using your boob as a pillow."

"Looks like we shared the right side after all," Faith chuckled too and, if anything, sounded more nervous. "Bet you're glad you made me put the t-shirt on now, huh?"

"The jury's still out," she admitted, but then pushed herself away, back to the left side of the bed. "Oh, God, that's freezing!" Without thinking she scrambled beneath the bed-covers to wrap herself back around the heat of Faith's body.

"I think the fire went out." Faith craned her neck up, trying not to dislodge her. "Yep, it's out. We should probably be making a move."

"You're crazy if you think I'm getting out of this bed, I'll freeze to death!"

"It's not that cold."

"Yes it is. It's a wonder my drool hasn't turned to ice!" Faith looked down at her t-shirt and Buffy quickly placed her hand over Faith's breast. "Don't look at my drool! Don't even think about it."

"Trust me, B," Faith looked down at her hand with a big smile. "Drool ain't exactly the bodily fluid that's coming to mind right now."

"Eww, Faith!" But then Buffy looked at where her hand was resting and realised what she meant. She couldn't help smiling shyly. "Really? No, don't answer that." She removed her hand from Faith's breast and tucked it back down against her side. "The fact remains that I am not leaving this bed until it warms up in here."

"Then stay here, babe, but I'm starving."

"I'm hungry too." She was aware that she was whining, but she _was_ hungry and that brief moment she had tried to fend for herself had made her so cold her skin still felt goose-bumpy, and that was _beneath _the blankets. She didn't want to think how cold it must be outside of them. "Could you re-light the fire?"

"From here? I doubt it."

Buffy gently pinched her side. "No, from over there. There's wood and tinder and kindling and matches. You just have to put it all together."

"I know how to make a fire, B."

Buffy tilted her head to give Faith her nicest smile. "Then could you go do it, please?"

"But that means me having to get out in the cold."

"But you were going to do that anyway."

"Kinda changing my mind since you groped me."

"I didn't grope you!" Okay, that was not the tone that would get her what she wanted. "I mean, please baby?" She batted her eyelashes for good measure.

"I'll give you two options . . ."

Buffy groaned but her smile remained. She'd really been hoping that Faith had been too drunk to remember any of last night but obviously she remembered it clear as day. "And they are?"

"Well, seeing as we're all about the compromise these days, option one: I'll get up in the cold and light you a fire if you make it worth my while. Option two: we stay exactly as we are."

Buffy gave it some thought. Option two sounded good because she was all cosy-warm pressed against Faith's side _without _it being sexual. She could easily imagine cuddling Willow or Xander like this in the same situation, although she had to admit she would in no way be enjoying it as much. On the other hand, she wanted breakfast, which meant moving, which meant . . .

"I don't think sex in exchange for a fire is really even."

"Never said nothing about sex."

"Oh. What did you mean then?"

Faith shifted her head on the pillow so that she could look her in the eye better and grinned. "Second base?"

"That's . . . Faith!"

Faith held a hand up. "Hey, no pressure. You can always get up and make the fire yourself."

That wasn't happening. Buffy chuckled nervously again. "Second base? We haven't even gone to first base in a week."

"So let's start there."

Faith's lips were on hers before she had time to say no, and after it had happened she didn't want to say no. She kissed back with nervous enthusiasm, pushing herself up on an elbow so the angle of their mouths wasn't so awkward. She could do this all day she realised, although it wasn't a new revelation, just one she'd tried not to think about all week.

When Faith's hand pushed beneath her pajama top she felt the need to break the kiss, even though the hand was doing no more than resting lightly in the dip of her waist.

"Too quick?" Faith asked and then answered herself by removing her hand and placing it back on the outside of Buffy's pajamas. She kissed her again and, reassured, Buffy melted back into it.

Maybe another five minutes of the sweet indulgence passed before she felt Faith's fingertips sliding up her skin again. Her lips faltered for a second or two but she didn't pull away this time. Second base was nothing to be scared of! Hell, they'd been dating four months! With false bravado she pushed her hands under Faith's tight t-shirt but they only made it as far as her ribs. She stroked the skin between the ridges, noting with pleasure that Faith had put weight on since she'd been out of prison. She felt healthy again, the bumps of her ribs softer on Buffy's palms than they had been the last time they'd made love.

She felt Faith's fingertips reach the underside of her breasts, tensed a little as she felt them slide around the sides before moving firmly over the top. She tensed a lot as she felt palms caressing her nipples, her body wanting – _needing – _more even while her brain was insisting she stop and think before she let Faith's touch talk her into something she'd regret. Buffy struggled with the decision, splayed hands flexing uncontrollably and slightly dangerously against Faith's ribs as she battled between pushing them higher and pulling them away.

See this was why she had to be so careful with the boundaries, because if just the feel of Faith's fingertips brushing over her nipples combined with the dizzying feel of Faith's tongue wrapping around her own was enough to get her in this state of crazy, she'd lose her mind if . . .

. . . Faith started massaging her breasts more boldly while bringing a thigh up between hers _and_ moaning all sexily into her mouth!

"OhmyGod!" she panted breathlessly, jerking back at the shock of such a sudden and intense escalation of her already spiralling desire. She pulled her hands free from the heat of Faith's t-shirt and rolled away fast to sprawl on her back. Staring up at the ceiling, eyes wide, her sharp, shallow breaths made white puffs in the frigid air.

She felt the bed shift as Faith sat up beside her and out of the corner of her eye she saw her about to speak. She couldn't listen to her voice yet though; it might be all it took to send her over the edge – both literally and figuratively. So she didn't give her a chance to speak.

"Okay, I'm a lot warmer now. Thanks!" Buffy jumped up and was out of bed and already rushing for the bathroom as Faith slapped the mattress, shouting in frustration.

"Buffy!"

* * *

Willow lay in the big bed all on her lonesome, looking up at the ceiling and twiddling her thumbs above the covers. She sort of expected Kennedy to come and join her in the night, once the rest of the house was asleep, but she'd woken up alone.

She didn't know what the time was. There was an old fashioned alarm clock on the table beside the bed but it read two-thirty, so either she'd slept _really_ late or it was wrong. The curtains were the thick lustrous kind, keeping the room nice and dark, but there was a slither of sunlight showing through where they met, so she knew it wasn't that early either. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Should she get up? She didn't want to wander around the strange house on her own, however welcome she had been made to feel. What if she couldn't find her way back downstairs and became lost in the upper hallways? What if someone saw her lost and mistook it for her snooping around? What if she accidentally walked in on Kennedy's Step-Dad in the bathroom or something?

As her 'what-ifs' grew more outlandish and she came to the conclusion that she wasn't even budging from the bed until someone came to fetch her, her cell phone rang.

"So much for that plan."

Willow padded across the thick carpet, loving the way it felt under her bare toes, to retrieve the phone from her bag. Hopefully it would be Kennedy with directions to the kitchen. She was disappointed to find it was the camp instead – she'd had . . . what? Not even a twenty-four hour vacation! – but a little pleased at the chance to talk to someone familiar.

"Hello?"

It was Giles, needing information on elves.

"Elves, really? Don't we have enough demons to worry about without going after Santa's little helpers?"

He explained the situation, convincing Willow to take it seriously. She still felt bad about not staying to help with the nasty child-eating threat as it was, the least she could do was a little research for them.

"I'll help, Giles, but I don't know when I'll be able to get to a computer. I'm not even sure I can find my way downstairs yet." She looked around the room for inspiration, or a floor plan. She spotted something else instead. "Wait; Kennedy has a laptop."

Willow switched her cell to loudspeaker and set it on the desk beside her as she opened the laptop and pressed the power button. It was a really nice machine, nicer than hers and hers was no slouch, and it started up quickly.

Almost at once the screen called for a password. "Um."

She tried Kennedy's first name, then her surname, then she typed in 'Suki'. Next she tried Kennedy's date of birth and the name of her favourite band. She wanted to try her favourite soccer team next but couldn't remember what they were called. Lastly, feeling self-conscious, she tried her own name. That wasn't it either.

"Sorry, Giles, I can't get in without Kennedy's help. I'll try again later though."

He wasn't very happy, but wished her a good day and made her promise to phone as soon as possible.

As she cut the call, Willow sat on the edge of the bed, narrowing her eyes at the blinking cursor on the screen as if she was challenging it to a duel.

* * *

Xander wasn't a naturally early riser. He'd grown used to it working construction and for the first few months of living in Boudenver he'd had to be up at the crack of dawn most days; it had been the only way to fit everything in he'd thought was expected of him. Since Faith had been helping him out, his mornings started later. The fact that she was rarely ready to begin before eight gave him an excuse to sleep in too.

So the five am start this morning was really screwing with him. He couldn't remember ever being up this early, unless it was because he hadn't gone to bed yet. Tara had said something once about it being better to see the sunrise from this way round, but he didn't agree. He'd much rather be sleeping through the sunrise altogether.

He drove the truck slowly along Main Street. He had to go slowly because once again a crisp overnight frost had turned the slushy streets to brittle ice. It was going to be great fun walking around in this!

Giles yawned and muttered 'Sorry' but the apology didn't stop Robin from yawning too, and then Xander couldn't prevent his own yawn.

Robin smiled. "Guess they really are contagious, huh?" No one bothered answering. It was just too damn early.

Xander slowed the truck down even more as he approached the rendezvous point; mindful of the ice under the tires but also to give them all a chance to check out the group of villagers already waiting there. It looked like The Mouth was holding an open audition for a remake of The Mountain Men.

The diner wasn't usually open this early but they extended their opening hours for special occasions and obviously this counted as one of them. Several of the men waiting out front held mugs of coffee and the door was wide open. Pulling the truck into a space, Xander hopped down, eager for some hot coffee, too. As his boots hit the ice he had to hug the door to keep his feet under him.

"Hey, guys!" He laughed nervously and waved a hand as several of the grim-looking men turned towards him, eyes frowning from under the bills of their baseball caps and beards unsmiling. "You guys really go all out with the checked flannel, huh? Are we ready to catch some wascally wabbit or what?"

Nodding to one of the relief barmen from Barnies and high-fiving with Donnie from the lumber yard as he passed him, Xander walked around to open the tail-gate for the boys. They remained huddled together where they were, wrapped in the thick sleeping bags that were kept in the back for the slayers.

"Come on, get out."

"It's too cold," Andrew complained.

"And too early," Craig added.

"You're right, it is. Now get out."

They began to show faint signs of movement and Xander left them to it. Giles and Robin were still standing beside the truck, apart from the main group.

"There's more people here than I thought there would be," Robin's voice was hushed. "I guess this isn't going to be a stealth mission."

"They think they're hunting wolves," Giles kept to the same low volume. "And they think crashing through the woods like idiots is the way to flush them out."

"Could we try not insulting the burly guys with the hunting rifles?" Xander asked. "At least until I've had some coffee?"

"Do you see Alex?" Robin asked, looking around for the only face that would be familiar to him. Spending most of his time on the road on the way to meet with newly found slayers, he knew next to nobody in town.

It was still dark and many of the men stood in tight clumps, talking quietly, making it hard to tell one person from another. Xander thought he spotted Al on the edge of the throng but it turned out to be the sheriff. He was a big and intimidating man, and although Xander had sat at the bar with him a few times, he wasn't keen on the idea of going over and reporting for duty. Not when the sheriff thought they were there to represent a _wildlife_ club.

He pointed him out to Giles and apparently the Watcher shared his reluctance. "Let's just try and blend in until we're surer of how things are going to proceed."

Blend in? Xander had to laugh. The three of them were standing apart from the seasoned hunters, in regular street clothes and without a gun or a beard to their name. When the boys finally joined them, holding hands and with a sleeping bag still wrapped around Andrew shoulders, he laughed again.

"Oh, yeah, now we're blending in a treat."

Robin saw the funny side too and grinned. "Maybe if we put tranq. guns in their other hands . . .?"

"Nah, let's face it, we're destined to be the sore thumb of this expedition. Might as well accept it."

"There is a more positive way to look at it."

"And that is?"

"We could be the thumb of equality instead. One black guy, one disabled guy, two gay guys and . . ." Robin gestured at Giles ". . . one foreign guy. We have the minorities covered."

Xander flinched at being labelled disabled however teasing Robin's tone had been. He blocked it out, stamped down the hot jolt of dread in his stomach and pretended it didn't bother him at all.

"Not totally, we're one down," he said, his own tone as untroubled as he could make it. "We shoulda brought one of the girls after all."

* * *

Reece had been disturbed by Craig getting dressed. The bugger had been complaining the whole time; pissed off that he had to get up so early and go out in the cold, completely disrespecting the opportunity he was being given. The opportunity that should have been Reece's. It had annoyed him so much that they'd rowed about it and after Craig had finally left, Reece was too wound up to go back to sleep.

After laying there for a while, wide awake and fretting about the events of the night before, he'd decided he had only one sensible course of action – inflict his misery on as many others as possible.

Banging on the door to the Slayers' dormitory while blowing one of Kennedy's training whistles had soon gathered him all the company his misery could want. After a not-so-rousing but nevertheless successful speech about the danger everyone else was facing while they were sleeping the day away, they followed him through the snow, in boots and bed clothes, to the kitchen.

There they all sat around the kitchen table waiting for the room to hurry up and get warm while Miranda made hot drinks and he forced the rest of them into reading Giles' books.

He could get used to this; having an entire team under his command. Heads down to work because he'd ordered it. His eyes followed the v-shaped neckline of Cici's nightie as he idly fantasized about what other orders he could persuade them to follow.

"So where's Dawn?"

As Miranda called the question across the kitchen, Reece's head jerked up and his book slipped from his grasp as he not-so-casually ran a hand casually back through his hair. It needed cutting, he noted with distaste; he'd grown lax with his personal grooming since living here.

"Er, still in bed, I imagine." A bad-tempered Dawn wouldn't sooth his annoyance, only add to it. "I didn't like to wake her."

They hadn't parted on the best of terms the night before and the last thing he wanted was to piss her off even more.

"I don't know why any of us have to be up this early," Alison grumbled as she flicked through the pages, her eyes still too sleepy to follow the actual words. "Some of us only went to bed four hours ago!"

"Find something useful and you can go back to bed," Reece muttered.

He wasn't working them that hard; he'd kept the thickest book with the smallest writing for himself after all. He left it on the table, as if he'd meant to drop it there, and turned to the index.

"But why are we doing this?" Cici wasn't usually much of a complainer, she generally just went along with things, but she obviously wasn't a morning person. "We're slayers, research isn't our area."

"Rona?" Reece asked his slayer for back up.

"I'm with them." She pointed her spoon at Alison and Cici before digging it back into her cereal.

He sighed, but then Vi came to his aid. "Buffy researches, when it's important."

There was muttered acceptance of this and then the kitchen fell mostly quiet while everyone read their assigned books and ate their breakfast.

It was Rachel, the new slayer, who spoke next. "I don't mind researching, but I'm not really sure what I'm researching for. Don't we already know it's some kind of hell dog?"

Rachel was quiet, unassuming, introverted. She seemed to go out of her way to not interact with the others; choosing to stay at home instead of coming to the Christmas Ball, for instance. It was probably only because she had only recently arrived at the camp, but whatever the reason it made her boring and Reece had no time for her. That and the fact that she obviously hadn't been listening the night before when Giles had explained that they could no longer be sure it was Hell Hounds made him ignore her comment completely.

Naomi was made of softer stuff though, which was why, even though he had no authority over her, she'd left her warm bed to join the other girls in a show of solidarity.

"Rachel, it's a possibility that it's not Hell Hounds now, so we are researching other demons that habitually strike in the winter time."

"Like Bigfoot?" she asked innocently.

Reece remembered she was only fifteen and new to the idea of demons and forced himself to speak civilly. "Bigfoot doesn't exist."

"Oh, right." Rachel ducked her head back to her book, embarrassed.

"But you're on the right lines," Naomi said. "Look for demons that live in the forest, above the snowline. If the authorities are convinced it's wolves coming down from Canada, maybe they're not completely wrong. Perhaps it's something else coming down from the north."

Reece nodded, wishing he'd thought of that first but he was professional enough not to show it. "Half of us should concentrate on the local demons and the other half should look for Canadian or even," he glanced at Naomi to gauge her opinion, "demons from the arctic circle."

She nodded subtly amid the rustle of pages as some of the slayers swiftly altered their points of reference. They would always be in competition with one another while they were under the same roof – just like they had been at the academy – but Reece found it reassuring to know they could pull together when it counted too. Especially when he was in such short supply of allies.

Miranda had joined them at the table but was yet to be given a book. In the absence of literature to read she unrolled the poster Giles had discarded on the counter the evening before.

"Talking of supernatural winter visitors," she began, and then turned the poster around so they could all see it. "Are we going to this? It looks like fun."

Everyone spared it a glance, some longer than others.

"It's for kids," Rona dismissed as she took her empty bowl to the sink.

"But aren't we kids?" Miranda said.

"Speak for yourself," Vi chuckled. "I'm nearly seventeen."

"Yeah, but . . ." Miranda laid the poster flat on the table so she could look at it again. ". . . maybe I'm too old for Santa but I like the idea of meeting some reindeer."

Shaking his head irritably, Reece passed her over a book. "Start researching. We don't have time for that Santa Claus nonsense."

* * *

Breakfast was rowdier than Faith was happy with. Mornings weren't her thing at the best of times, but add to that a hangover she was trying to hide from Buffy, her general frustration with the blonde, and the fact that the kids were all extra hyper with the prospect of meeting Santa – her head was officially blown.

Seriously, if felt like she'd ruptured a brain vessel or something. All she could do was keep shovelling food into her mouth and stare at a framed safety regulations notice to the left of Buffy's head. She was shaking, from the alcohol leaving her body, from the effort of not starting an argument with Buffy about what had happened that morning, from the noise of all the little shits hollering in excitement. She was gonna lose it any second, but she had to stay in there and not lose it because they were under-fucking-cover!

The worst of it was, Buffy was oblivious. In fact she seemed to be in a better mood than she had been all week.

"Do you want that last piece of toast?" she asked now, pointing at it with her knife.

Faith did, but the only thing she had to hold on to right now, the only thing keeping her sane, was their stupid pretence, a reason to not lose it.

"Nah, you have it, babe," she said between gritted teeth.

Buffy only seemed to notice the endearment and not the manner in which it had been delivered. She smiled a sweet smile and snatched up the slice of toast, dropping it onto her plate to eat with the last of her scrambled eggs.

A minute later Faith had finished her own breakfast and was left with no distractions. Would it look really bad if she went out for a cigarette while Buffy was still eating? She hadn't been a heavy smoker since she'd left prison but in times of stress . . . yeah, she really needed one right now. Plus it would get her out of this noise. These kids were insane! She'd been housed with hundreds of women at Stockton and it had never reached this level of mayhem. She couldn't handle it.

She was about to get up and walk out, whether it looked wrong or not. She had the words to excuse herself from Buffy on the tip of her tongue, nothing elaborate, just the truth, when there was a tug on her sleeve.

She pulled it away automatically and, also automatically, had her hand raised to strike the offender away. So thank God she had the sense to look down first.

It was a little kid, holding up a toy train for her to see. It took her a moment before she recognised him.

"Olly. What do you want?" Her voice was gruff but she didn't care. With any luck she'd scare him and he'd run back to his parents.

He didn't. Instead he set the wooden train engine on her thigh and said "Vroom, vroom!"

Buffy was sitting up in her chair to see over the table, her face was all happy. "I think he wants you to play."

Faith ignored her and said to Olly, "Trains don't go vroom."

Olly was staring up at her as he pushed the train engine a little along her thigh. "Vroom!"

"They don't go vroom! They go choo-choo!"

"Vroom!"

"Choo choo!" Oh God, she was having an argument with a frickin' three year old now! Desperate to end it, she took the engine from him as gently as her temper right now would allow and ran it along the table, "Look, choo-choo, choo-choo, choo-choo."

He gave her a defiant pout. "Vroom-vroom-vroom-vroom!"

"Fine, have it your own way, kid." She set the toy on the floor and gave it a hard push so that it ran smoothly across the carpet away from the table. "Vrooooom! There ya go."

Olly gave a high-pitched laugh and ran after it.

Sitting up straight again, Faith caught Buffy grinning at her. "What?"

"Choo-choo?"

"Are you trying to say trains don't go choo-choo?"

"No, I'm saying you are unbelievably cute when _you_ go choo-choo."

Faith felt her cheeks colour and couldn't believe it. She ducked her head, staring down at the table as she scoffed, "I already told ya, I'm _not_ cute."

"Not usually no, but you have your moments, like this one."

Faith was about to retort but Olly was back, holding the train up to her.

"Play again?" he asked hopefully.

"Nah, kid, I'm all played out."

"Again!"

"Nope."

He tried to push the engine onto her lap and she tried to stop him without getting rough. Great, now she wasn't just arguing with the kid she was wrassling with him!

"Okay, whatever!" She snatched the train away. "One more time if you can remember the magic word."

Olly got a big smile on his face as he said with all of the certainty a three year could muster: "Please?"

"Nuh uh, sorry." She set the engine on the table just out of his reach.

"Faith!" Buffy pleaded on the boy's behalf.

"Hey, ain't my fault he doesn't know the magic word."

Olly's bottom lip quivered and Faith figured the only thing that stopped him from bawling was the distraction of Buffy beckoning to him with a finger. Curiously he walked around the table to her and Buffy bent to whisper something in his ear.

He seemed dubious about whatever she'd said but he walked back around the table and looked up at Faith. "Choo-choo."

Faith grinned but couldn't help herself. "I think ya cheated."

His lip was all quivery again and when Buffy said her name this time there was more steel in it.

"Okay, I'm just kidding, neither of you have to be cry-babies about it."

Faith set the engine on the floor once more and gave it a push even harder than the one before. It sailed across the carpet and Olly ran off excitedly. She was out of her seat before he'd even caught up with it.

"I'm going for a smoke before the brat comes back again."

"I take it back; there is nothing cute about you."

Even though Buffy was still sort of smiling at her, her words stung Faith more than they should. Shrugging it off, she walked out of the restaurant.

* * *

The big group outside of The Mouth had split into smaller groups before heading out. Giles had hoped their own group would be split between the others, so as to cover more ground, but Alex had refused his request, insisting they all had to stay with him and a younger lad, Fraser, from the village. The deputy sheriff said it was for their own protection but Giles was sure it had more to do with preventing them from causing trouble. While annoyed, Giles had accepted the terms without complaint and now they were trudging through the deep snow along Old Town Road.

Alex was extremely alert, eyes darting this way and that into the slowly departing shadows of the night. He held his rifle in both hands like a soldier, ready to fire off a shot the moment the need arose. Or before. He looked far too tense to be carrying a loaded weapon and Giles assumed it was because of their presence – or at least the presence of Andrew and Craig who were talking amiably – and a great deal – with Fraser.

Giles walked quietly beside Alex, keeping his own eyes trained on the hedgerows either side of the road. He sorely wanted to quiz the man on the situation again but knew now was not the time to push the matter. If they returned from the hunt with nothing to show for the experience – as he truly expected to – he planned to corner Alex, or the sheriff himself, and demand some answers to his perfectly reasonable questions. For now he was prepared to bide his time.

Xander had made small talk with his friend to begin with but Alex's terse replies had soon made him lapse into silence. Giles was pleased, because despite Buffy's assurances that Xander was physically fit for patrol – something that Giles had never actually doubted – he was concerned that his interest in the task, and therefore his concentration was still in question. His full attention now was reassuring.

Robin, however, seemed to be more in tune with the three boys behind them. He walked easily on the other side of Alex, the tranquilliser gun held loosely in one hand so that the muzzle almost brushed the snow and gazed about with interest in the lightening day.

"So why do they call it Old Town Road?"

Giles, and Xander too, both looked at Robin like he was absurd to ask, but Alex found it a sensible enough question.

"Before they built the interstates there were only two roads into the town: the one your camp is on and this one. They called the other one Lake Road for obvious reasons and so they called this one Town Road. Once they built the new road, that'd be the one you head out to Cleveland on, they just stuck the 'Old' at the front."

"I see. How old is the town then?"

"Four hundred years, give or take. It was the first place settled after the coastal regions, so history tells it. Some old guy sailed over from England, or maybe it was France, and walked west until he found a place he liked the look of. That was Pleasant Creek, which is about a mile from here. Boudenver eventually built up around it."

"That's fascinating," Robin said with so much sincerity that Alex smiled. Of course, Alex didn't know the fascination stemmed from the Hellmouth being located in Pleasant Creek. "What was the name of the settler?"

Alex thought for a moment but shrugged. "I learned it in school but it escapes me now. Owen knows the history of this whole town like he lived it himself though, so you should ask him your questions."

Giles sighed. Asking the shopkeeper questions was like talking to the Riddler – you came away more confused than when you'd begun. He was half convinced the old man was heading for senility.

"Do you know anything about the church in Pleasant Creek?" he asked.

"Not a lot, why?"

"It's a magnificent structure and there is something quintessentially English about it."

Not to mention it was built right on top of the Hellmouth; which was unusual and unlikely to be a coincidence.

"I know it was built when Pleasant Creek was, they used stone out of Boudenver quarry." Alex suddenly laughed. "We used to think it was haunted when we were kids. There was this story all the old folk used to tell about how ghosts were trapped underneath it. They'd come out and get you if you didn't say your prayers every night."

"Did you ever test it?" Xander asked, his grin belying the serious nature of his question.

"Sure, we all did, I guess. And I never saw a ghost."

Xander exchanged a look with Giles and shrugged. Giles wondered if the tales came from the ancient memory of Jupitus who had once wreaked havoc on the town before being trapped within the Hellmouth.

Robin was about to ask another question when Alex stopped, held his hand up and said, "Quiet!"

They all stopped obediently and the three boys behind them ceased talking. Alex had his rifle trained on a point at the edge of the road and twenty yards ahead of them.

"What is it?" Andrew whispered nervously.

It was almost completely light now and although the heavy snow clouds made the morning dull, Giles had noticed the movement by the ditch as soon as Alex had spoken.

He let a couple of seconds of tension roll by before he whispered, "It appears to be a rabbit."

"Okay," Alex muttered, slowly lowering his rifle, "let's keep going,"

Giles sighed, wondering if the whole day was going to be filled with stray rabbits or if something pertinent would actually show itself.

* * *

The cold air, the quiet time and the cigarette had cleared Faith's hangover up and her mood was improved by the time Buffy joined her outside.

It didn't stop her from sniping, "You took your time!"

"They served dessert with breakfast! What was I supposed to do?"

Faith got interested, "Breakfast dessert? What was it?"

"A fruit salad."

Her interest left. "Fruit ain't dessert."

"It was yummy."

"Whatever. So we're heading out to the forest, right?"

"That's what we decided." Buffy's tone had cooled to match her own.

Great, why were they only ever in tune when they were pissed at each other? Faith wasn't even pissed really. In fact on some levels she was feeling pretty damn good. She'd gotten her first handful of Buffy-boob in months that morning – if it hadn't been ripped away from her so damn fast she would have been flying high.

She just didn't get Buffy! Faith _knew _she had liked it, she'd been just as into the making out as her, but then she'd stopped it anyway. Why? They'd already agreed they weren't gonna go further than that so why the panic attack? Either Buffy was deliberately messing with her head or the chick had no idea what 'compromise' really meant.

"So how do you think we get there?" Buffy was asking.

Faith pointed to the large free-standing map by the trail and then followed Buffy over to it. It was encased in glass that was half-frozen over and Buffy rubbed at it with her glove so that they could get a clear view.

"There." Buffy jabbed a finger at the glass and Faith nodded.

There were several ski-lifts shown on the map but only one was anywhere near a wooded area. It had to be the one they'd passed the night before just as the elves had appeared alongside the huskies.

"So that's about . . ." Faith tried to judge the distance using the scale indicator and then calculated it in time. "A two hour walk. Three in the snow."

Buffy sighed as she agreed. "Well, I guess we don't have anything better to do." She turned to look Faith up and down.

"What?"

"No need to be so defensive! I was just thinking you need better clothes."

"Gee, and why would I be defensive about that? We're not going to another stupid Ball, B, just walking through some snow."

"Exactly! You're wearing jeans, which means you're gonna get wet and then freeze and I'm not carrying you back six miles if your legs fall off with frostbite."

Faith looked her up and down now. She hadn't really taken much notice before but now she realised Buffy was kitted out in the same kind of puffy snowsuit as everyone else out here. It wasn't as garish as most of them, being white and pink, and Buffy looked kinda cute in it, but it wasn't close to being her style.

"When did you even buy that?"

"The day before yesterday. I did tell you I was going shopping for vacation clothes, remember?"

Faith did. For some reason her brain had computed that as skimpy bikinis though, not ski-wear. She shrugged, "I survived plenty of Boston winters in jeans, I'll deal."

"Are you sure? There's a gift shop in the hotel that sells suits."

Faith wasn't putting on a cutesy puffy suit. "I'm sure. Let's just go."

They didn't get a chance to. An elf appeared from through the main doors – a human elf, not a real one – and instantly a crowd appeared around him. Faith and Buffy were caught up in the middle of it.

"Okay, boys and girls," he began, speaking through a megaphone. "Here are today's activities. First on the agenda is the Grand Snowball Fight! It starts just over there." He pointed to the clear area in front of the hotel. "And begins in half an hour. No need to sign up, just pick which side you want to be on and start throwing! After that we have the Build a Snowman competition – prizes for the biggest and the most artistic and, just so no one is left out, the silliest too! After that we take a break for hot cocoa and Christmas cookies."

Faith looked at Buffy, silently asking: 'Why are we listening to this?' They started to edge their way out of the crowd, trying not to make it too obvious they were leaving.

The elf-man went on. "After the break the ski lifts open. So for all of you extra-energetic folks that's your cue to head to the slopes. For the rest of us there is Bingo and Carolling in the Christmas Diner until the Tobogganing competition starts up on the dunes. All ages are welcome to join in although we do ask that children under five are accompanied by an adult."

"Danger," Buffy said suddenly.

"What?"

Faith saw that they were heading towards Jan and Tim even as she asked. Damn. They'd already been spotted too so there was no sneaking off in the other direction. She reached out to take Buffy's waiting glove so that when they reached the couple they were holding hands.

"Are you two sneaking off?" Jan joked as they drew level.

Seeing as Buffy didn't have an answer, Faith took the bullet. "I needed a smoke."

She bristled when Tim gave her a disapproving look but relaxed when Jan said, "I'm with you," and followed them out of the crowd, leaving Tim and Olly to listen without her.

Jan took a pack of cigarettes from one of the deep pockets of her ski-jacket and offered one to Faith. "Don't get me wrong, I love all this family stuff, but darn it if it doesn't make the simple pleasures in life difficult."

She offered one to Buffy too. "Thanks, but I don't smoke. My simple pleasure is breathing properly. Oh, but I didn't mean to be rude," she added in a rush.

"Don't worry about it. Tim's the same. Especially now that we have Oliver."

As the two of them began to discuss the badness of smoking around kids, Faith tuned them out. Unfortunately that meant the elf-man tuned back in.

"And after we open the _last doors_ of the giant Advent Calendar it's time for the Magical Reindeer Ride! The ride lasts two hours, with a stop along the way for hot cocoa and hotdogs, and then you have the choice of being dropped off back here for an early supper or arriving at Santa's Grotto in style."

Faith sneered at the idea of the Grotto. She'd never been taken to visit one as a kid but she imagined it would be cheesy and unbelievable as hell. Looking around at all the kids' excited faces, including little Olly's, she wondered what the hell was so special about Santa freakin' Claus anyway. He was a myth, a lie parents told to try and keep their brats behavin' themselves all year. She suddenly had a wicked little fantasy about stealing the megaphone off of the grown man in green tights and telling all these kids the truth. Releasing them from their Santa Claus-ian shackles. Letting them know that it didn't matter if they were good or bad because Santa didn't freakin' exist anyway. They could be free of the fear of the naughty list. They'd thank her for it in the end.

Buffy probably wouldn't thank her for it today though.

"Everything okay, Faith?" Jan asked, seeing her expression.

"Oh, she's fine," Buffy squeezed her hand hard. "Aren't you, baby? Probably just cold. I did tell her she needed warmer clothes."

Faith forced out a grin. "And I keep telling her all I need to keep me warm is my girl."

Not giving Buffy a chance to stop her, Faith caught her around the waist, pulling her close while leaning in to capture her lips. Buffy's mouth tasted of watermelon and blueberries from her breakfast dessert. Faith didn't drag the kiss out but made it worth the hassle she was gonna get for it later in private. As her arms slid from Buffy's waist and she allowed her to have back some personal space, Faith licked her lips with a cocky grin.

"See, much warmer now."

"Uh, yeah, me too," Buffy mumbled, sounding a little breathless.

Jan shook her head with a smile. "I can't believe you two have been together four years, you still act like you just fell in love." Seeing the crowd dispersing, she added, "Quick, what's your secret?"

Buffy chuckled awkwardly.

Faith laughed and with an arm around Buffy's neck pulled her down for an affectionate noogie. "B withholds sex a lot, keeps it fresh."

Buffy fought free with some pushing. She was glaring but Faith's smirk reminded her to rein in her temper.

Smiling brightly, Buffy turned to Jan. "Faith doesn't deserve sex a lot, keeps it easy."

"Wh . . .?" A snowball hit the side of Jan's face, making her drop her cigarette and distracting her. "Hey!"

Ten feet away Oliver was giggling uncontrollably.

"Olly threw it!" Tim called.

"Yeah right!" Laughing too, Jan was gathering snow to make her own ball.

Buffy took the moment to punch Faith in the stomach. It might have been subtle but it was still hard!

Faith doubled over with the shock attack. When she straightened back up she launched a snowball across the three feet separating them. It struck Buffy right in the face.

"Ow!"

Faith's laugh was genuine but it had an edge to it. "Sorry, babe, just trying to join in the fun."

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	14. Act 3:6

Sorry for the majoy gap between updates, I've been caught up in another project all month and everything else fell by the wayside. I'm back on track now though and hopefully regular with resume. This isn't a very long update I'm afraid, but I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"It's just so beautiful!" Willow's eyes were shining with delight as they walked down the residential street.

It was mid-morning but every house was awash, inside and out, with the twinkling and sparkling of Christmas decorations. Lawns were lit up like neon bar-signs, pronouncing to the world that Christmas was open for business. The whole neighbourhood was one big shiny LED winter wonderland.

Kennedy was used to it being like this out here and she barely noticed the extravagance of the displays, but Willow was enchanted.

Kennedy squeezed her hand. "So you like it?"

"I do. I mean, obviously it's a garish exhibition of crass commercialism but . . . look at all the pretty lights!"

Laughing, Kennedy swung their joined hands between them, pleased that the vacation hadn't been found wanting so far. She'd been nervous about bringing Willow, but she was taking her crazy family in stride and genuinely seemed to be enjoying herself.

"So did you miss me last night?" she teased.

"Yep. Your bed is way too big for just one person. I was lost in the sheets. There was this one moment where I thought I'd never find my way to edge again." Willow grinned at her. "Oh, and I missed snuggle time."

"Me too."

"I kinda thought you might sneak up after everyone was in bed."

"I wanted to, I nearly did, but Heidi was wandering the halls and she's the only one of my Mom's housekeepers I've never been able to get around."

"Do you think your Mom will change her mind before tonight? Maybe if we promise her we just plan to sleep?"

"Would you believe that?" Kennedy thought about the conversation she'd had with her Mom the night before. "No, she's suddenly realised seven years too late that letting me have girls sleep over isn't great parenting. I think she's got it into her head that the reason none of my other relationships worked out was because I gave it up too easy." She laughed as she made finger quotes around 'relationships' and 'too easy'.

"Okay, not needing to hear more about those, but do you think she's right?"

"No. I think I was too young for serious relationships anyway and the few I tried to have she ruined by being insane . . . but Willow, I never met anyone I really _wanted_ to be serious with until you."

Willow's beautiful smile made Kennedy feel shy for revealing that, but it was true. From the first moment she'd spoken to Willow she'd known this girl was different; and even if it had been all about the thrill of the chase to start with, it hadn't taken her long to realise her feelings ran so much deeper than ever before.

"So maybe you just have to tell your Mom that."

"I tried last night but I think she's waiting for some kind of divine sign that I'm telling the truth and not just saying it to get laid."

Willow chuckled, "Well, I can understand that."

"Yeah, I _understand_ it, but it doesn't help either of us get laid tonight."

Willow let go of her hand to playfully push her shoulder and when Kennedy caught it again she tugged her towards the sidewalk. They'd reached the end of one road and rather than turning aimlessly into the next as they'd been doing for the last hour, Kennedy headed for a footpath that ran between two of the large houses.

"Where are we going? There are more displays that way." Willow pointed down the street.

"Stage two of the tour."

A few hundred feet beyond the houses was a road. Not a busy one, at least not right now, but they had to wait for a couple of cars to pass before they could cross. On the other side Kennedy walked across a wide snowy verge into a line of trees and bushes.

"This is the second stage of the tour? Making out in the bushes?"

"We're not making out in the bushes." Kennedy heard the words leave her mouth and stopped abruptly. "Although we can if you want. It wasn't where I was aiming for but I'm onboard with detours."

"Detours can be fun."

Hidden from the road and passers-by, they lost twenty minutes detouring. If they hadn't both been wearing so many layers it probably would have been longer.

"So where were you aiming?" Willow asked eventually.

"Through here." Kennedy didn't take her hand again because she needed both of hers to push through the bushes and bare tree branches. She held them back for Willow to pass through. "To my parent's country club."

"Your parents own a country club?"

"No, but the amount of fees they pay each year to belong to it they probably could have bought one of their own by now. Here, over this."

She helped Willow over the simple wooden chest-high fence and then with one hand on the upper-most bar she jumped over to join her on the other side.

"Is this legal? Are we trespassing?" Willow whispered.

Kennedy grinned, "I'm a member too, Will, have been since I was seven. It's just quicker to go this way than walk around to the front gates."

"Seven?"

"Well, eighteen officially, but they know me."

There were bushes and trees on this side too and again Kennedy held them aside for Willow.

"Wow!"

Kennedy looked to see what had caused the reaction but there was nothing. "What?"

"I've just never seen this much snow!"

In front of them was the golf course, gently sloping down and then up with just a few trees and flags dotted here and there. It was covered in fresh, virgin snow. The club house could be seen on the horizon, a creamy-stone building that looked small from this distance.

"We had this much snow in Boudenver," she pointed out.

"I know, but after the first day that was just a nuisance. I can't imagine ever getting bored of looking at this though."

Kennedy chuckled, "Come on."

"Wait!" When she looked back at her, Willow gestured at the ground before them. "I don't want to spoil it."

"But that's the fun of snow, Will!" When Willow didn't look convinced Kennedy walked a few steps into it – it was soft and came half way up her shins – and then turned around to face her. "Watch."

Holding her arms out she fell backwards, she landed with a _smuuuch _sound as the snow gave around her.

"Your turn."

"Isn't it cold?"

"Not really."

Dubiously, Willow gingerly high-stepped out and picked her own patch of deep snow. After a few seconds to psych herself up she fell backwards too, and then lay there giggling.

* * *

Back at Sunset Camp everyone was getting drowsy again. Reece knew why, the literature was too dull and the room was too warm, but he couldn't bring himself to open a window to the sub-zero temperatures outside. He was trying to think of a way to boost everyone's energy when Dawn wandered into the kitchen yawning.

"Oh, hey, what are you all doing up so early?"

"Research," Vi muttered, eyes half-closed.

"Cool." Dawn bounced over to the fridge. "Find anything useful yet?"

"Nope." Alison rubbed her eyes before going back to reading. "And I'm officially seconds away from giving up."

Dawn's head had been in the fridge but she pulled it out again fast to stare at the slayers in dismay. "You can't give up! Think of the kiddies!"

Rona shook her head and closed her book. "There's nothing in these, Dawn!"

"So you're telling me that in those . . ." she counted quickly. ". . . eight big, thick books there is nothing that could be anything like what we're dealing with?"

"Dawn, it's not a case of just . . ." Reece began.

Dawn cut him off by holding her hand up. "I believe I was asking Rona."

Rona didn't look uncomfortable about being put in the middle of them, she shrugged. "Well, I've got nothing."

"It's true," Vi said. "We can research until we're blue in the face but . . . Actually, I think I must already be blue in the face. Am I?" she asked Rachel, sat to her left.

Rachel just shook her head mutely.

"There are plenty of demons that like to eat little children but we have no way of narrowing them down."

"Have you tried widening the search area? What about demons from . . .?"

"Yes," Reece told her. "We've expanded the search to habitats all the way to the North Pole."

"Okay," Dawn took the orange juice from the fridge and went to get a glass. "What about demons that only strike in winter time?"

"We've done that too!" Reece snapped. "We've widened our parameters as far as they'll go."

Dawn hopped up onto a stool. "So what about narrowing them?"

"How will that help?"

"Well, for starters it will reduce the _number_ of demons likely . . ."

"And what do you suggest we narrow them to?" Reece asked. "We've already tried looking for demons that only feed around Boudenver – there were none – and demons that are only present in Ohio."

"That was more than none," Naomi said. "In fact it was a surprising amount, considering how quiet the Hellmouth area is."

"Not really, when you think about it." Dawn shrugged, "All of the demons are slowly making their way here from Sunnydale, it was bound to boost the population, but maybe they just haven't made it all the way to _here_ yet."

Rona sat back in her chair, more alert than she had been all morning. "But if this demon came from Sunnydale, how has it been eating kids here every year for decades?"

"Exactly," Reece said, trying to gain some control over his research session. "It has to be either a local demon or a demon that habitually resides in the colder climates. So we need to keep reading . . ."

Dawn completely ignored him. "Going back to narrowing our parameters. We've tried local, we've tried less than local, we've tried winter demons . . ."

"You didn't in fact try any of them. You were asleep until twenty minutes ago."

Now she glared at him. "And whose fault is that? Why didn't you wake me for the research? You woke everyone else."

Her question surprised him. "I wanted to let you sleep."

"Why? Expecting another call from your _girlfriend_?"

There were a few titters from the slayers but Reece ignored them. "I told you last night, Dawn; Patricia and I . . ."

"I didn't want to hear it then, I don't want to hear it now." She addressed the rest of the group again. "So what about really narrowing it down? Like, demons that only attack at Christmas or something?"

Reeling with anger, Reece snapped, "That's preposterous! There aren't any demons that only attack at Christmas. It's a Christian holiday, it's sacred, no demon would dare misuse it." When he received several sceptical looks he went on, "Look, it's like vampires and crosses."

"He's right," Naomi backed him up. "Demons can feed on Christmas Day without burning up but none of them would do it deliberately. They'd be too scared of the consequences."

"So what you're saying," Alison said, "is that a vamp could bite me on Christmas Day and he'd be fine, but if he planned to bite me specifically because it was Christmas Day he'd be in trouble?"

Naomi nodded, "Essentially, yes. I don't think there have been any studies into whether it would actually be dangerous for a demon to bite someone on Christmas Day, but that's only because no demons are prepared to take the risk and try it."

The kitchen fell silent as everyone tried to come up with a new approach to the problem. It was the last thing on Reece's mind as he seethed over Dawn's attitude. He understood that she was angry – unjustifiably so in his opinion considering she hadn't even given him a chance to explain the night before – but it gave her no right to make him look a fool in front of the slayers. All of this might be a lark for her, a welcome break from homework no doubt, but it was his _career_, and undermining him as she was trying to do was unacceptable.

So he was even more furious when she suddenly sat up straight and offered yet another ridiculous explanation that all of the slayers lapped up.

"What if we're not dealing with a demon exactly? What if it's some other kind of supernatural Being – one that doesn't have the same hang-ups demons do?"

"Like what?" he asked sarcastically. "The Tooth Fairy?"

She shrugged, refusing to rise to his jibe. "Or a Hell-God."

"You're forgetting the fact that Hell-Gods don't _live_ on this plane."

She shrugged again. "Sometimes they do."

* * *

The snowball fight had started. Buffy and Faith had never intended to join in, they still had to go and find that elf-infested ski-lift, but they'd been jollied into it by their new friends. Aware that they had to be seen to be fitting in, the slayers had agreed with a subtle nod to just get it over and done with.

It was a pretty haphazard event. About thirty people were taking part and because everyone was allowed to choose which side they were on without intervention they were uneven, about twenty to ten. Buffy had used that as her excuse to pick the other team to Faith.

"It's only fair," she'd joked to Tim as she walked towards the opposing side, "Otherwise we'll slay them."

She felt a little bad at the thought of throwing snowballs at him and Jan and Olly, but not that bad because she was only planning on aiming at one person anyway.

She realised quickly, or at least after the fifth snowball landed on her face, that this might not have been the best idea. Her aim may have been deadly but her snowballs were less so, whereas Faith must have spent most of her formative years – in the winter months anyway – making these things. Plus picking the smaller side may have been noble, but it was also stupid because it just meant she had even more people chucking lumps of snow at her.

Finally getting the hang of it after ten minutes, she sent snowball after snowball at Faith's head. She was faster than the rest of her team, who were laughing and fooling around too much to be effective, and soon broke ranks to seek out fresh snow when that around her had been depleted or trampled on.

With more people on her side, Faith soon had to do the same, her aim as single-minded as Buffy's. Buffy spluttered and blinked as each snowball that hit her bare face stung like a bitch, but even half-blinded by flakes and watering eyes she didn't slow down her throws.

Days – no _months – _of frustration went into her assault, and knowing Faith was probably channelling the same just spurred her on to win. To settle this once and for all: I'm right; you're wrong, deal with it!

Faith wasn't getting the message though, not even when a particularly large ball smacked her straight in the eye. She fell back for a second, rubbed the sore orb, and then went straight back to launching snowballs at her.

A whistle was blown. Buffy didn't know what it was for so she ignored it; bending to grab another handful of snow.

A compatriot came to pat her shoulder, "Good show, thanks to you we nearly had them beat."

"Yeah." She slipped out from under his hand, barely hearing his words, as she found room to bring her arm back and let fly at Faith's head.

It was easier to concentrate now because there were less people around her and less people around Faith. A snowball socked her right in the mouth and she swallowed half of it in surprise even as she was scooping up more.

The whistle blew again.

She caught Faith in the throat hard enough to make her yelp. She ducked the next one aimed at her head while making _her _next. Olly squealed with laughter and Buffy looked up to see why. Faith had grabbed him up in one arm and was using him as a human shield! Even as she registered that, Faith's next shot hit her in the face again; right on the nose!

"Bitch!"

Using more strength than she had been, Buffy aimed between Olly's dangling legs and pulled off the perfect groin shot. Faith grunted and sank to her knees, releasing Olly to run, laughing, back to his parents.

Before Buffy could start crowing over her victory an Elf-man was running up, blowing his whistle in her face.

* * *

The rest of the hunting party were never far away, Xander realised, as Alex fired up his portable radio and the responding beep could be heard from deep within the trees to their left. This was good if trouble found one of the other groups - at least he, Robin and Giles would be within running distance - but it didn't say a lot for the sheriff's planning skills if they were all hunting through the same patch of forest – leaving lots of other patches of forest hunt-free.

As Alex asked the guy who ran The Mouth if they'd seen anything yet, Xander mentioned as much to Giles.

"I agree," the Watcher said softly, "but to be honest I don't think we're going to find anything in daylight anyway. They're hoping to flush a wolf from its den, which would make sense if there was a wolf to find, but if we're truly dealing with elves as Buffy believes, they'll be where the food source is, not out here in the woods."

"So the resorts?"

"I imagine so."

As they trudged past the lane that led to Mount Olwyn Farm, Craig bustled cheerfully between them. "Are we going to that?"

He was pointing to a poster stuck to the gate post. Xander gave it a glance and noticed it was the same as the one Giles had brought home the night before.

"I think we have more pressing matters than a Christmas fete," Giles said.

"I know that! My whole body's feeling the press of the bleeding freezing conditions you've got me traipsing 'round in, but it's still Christmas, en't it? We can have a little fun too."

"Not while children are being eaten we can't," Giles said firmly.

It wasn't easy to repress Craig's enthusiasm for life and Giles' words didn't come close. "Come on, Uncle Rubear! Look! Reindeers, carolling, Father Christmas! We have to go."

Xander grinned at him. Despite knowing his parentage, it was hard not to like the kid a little. Craig kinda reminded him of himself at that age – although he'd been less with the gayness obviously. "Aren't you a little old to believe in Santa?"

"I don't _believe _he exists, but what's Christmas without a jolly fat man in a red suit?" Grinning slyly, he added, "Some of my best childhood memories come from sitting on Father Christmas' knee."

Xander laughed while Giles groaned, "Please go back to pestering Andrew and leave us grown-ups alone."

Craig winked at Xander before doing just that, but called out, "Still think we should go though. It'd probably chill some of the slayers out if they sat on Santa's knee too."

Giles shook his head, muttering about the boy under his breath, until he saw Xander's expression. "What are you grinning about?"

"You just called me a grown-up!"

"My mistake. Perhaps you'd be more comfortable walking back there with the boys."

Alex was off of the radio now. "Jake's team is heading north towards the lake and Marlon's is gonna skirt around Pleasant Creek, so I say we take Juniper Lane to the west and follow it back to town. It's about another ten miles or so, you guys okay with that?"

Xander shrugged, "Sure, Al, whatever you think's best."

They must have already walked four or five miles, the most exercise he'd done in a long while. He knew he'd ache for it tomorrow but right now, with the crisp air in his lungs and his legs just getting warmed up, another ten miles sounded like nothing. There were groans from behind them though, which the 'grown-ups' ignored.

"Do any of those routes go near the local resorts?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, they all do, the local resorts being local and all," Alex said gruffly. "As I've said before Mr. Giles, we know what we're doing. Our route will take us within a mile of Snow Dunes. Jake will pass Big Fir and Winterlake. Bobby's group will practically cut through High Tops on its way back to town. The resorts are covered."

Xander latched onto one resort name only, and judging by the look that passed between Robin and Giles they did too.

With a slight nod, Robin said, "I just need to make a call." And then drifted back until he was walking behind Andrew, Craig and the other kid.

"City types, huh?" Alex said with derisive nod back towards Robin. "Can't cope without their damn cell phones."

Xander couldn't worry about Alex's intolerance, he was too busy wondering why Robin got to call Buffy instead of him or Giles, but then it clicked. Robin didn't seem like the pining type but maybe the opportunity to call a certain ex was just too good to resist.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)


	15. Act 3:7

Once again their leaving was foiled by the happy family they'd accidentally become friends with. Jan and Tim were fine when Buffy explained they had to leave – probably pleased that the psychotic snowballers were going away – but Olly clung to Faith's leg, refusing to let go until she agreed to make a snowman with him.

The competition had started ten minutes later and considering their behaviour in the snowball fight, Buffy was surprised they'd even been allowed to enter. Here they were though and now they had to act like they were in love again. It shouldn't have been this hard.

Buffy wasn't making much of an effort either; choosing a spot six feet away from Faith, she kept her back to her. She just couldn't find it in herself to turn around and make nice. Maybe because she was the only one in the competition who didn't have a partner. It was like health class all over again. Jan and Tim had obviously teamed up and with Oliver choosing Faith, she was on her own. She'd looked around hopefully to start with, expecting there to be at least one single person or spare kid that she could team up with but this place was so family and couple orientated that she had no options.

It didn't matter; she could still beat Faith at this. She could beat Faith at anything except drinking and being an asshole.

She quickly realised that was bullshit. She'd never made a snowman in her life! How hard could it be though? Apparently harder than she'd figured.

Ignoring Faith, she watched what the other couples were doing with their patches of snow and copied. She couldn't get her snowball to roll bigger; it kept breaking apart, so she came up with her own method. Scooping huge armfuls of snow into a pile, she patted it down to make a solid base. She might not win best snowman, but she was definitely a contender for the silliest. She piled snow on, determined to make it bigger than Faith's even if it looked like crap.

Glancing discretely at Faith and Olly's creation often to gauge how well they were doing, she saw when Faith patted her pockets to find her cell phone and then dug it out to hold to her ear. Buffy kept working but with less grumbling as she eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Hey, Rob. What's up?"

Buffy dropped another armful of snow onto her squarish base. Why would Robin be calling? It had _better_ be work related! Although she couldn't imagine how it could be otherwise really. Ever since the guy had been publicly and literally dropped in favour of Buffy he hadn't made any noticeable attempts to win back Faith's affections. Then again, having taken on the role of family liaison he was hardly ever at the camp and, for all Buffy knew with their current estrangement, Faith could have been boinking him for the last week without her knowing.

Unlikely but not impossible. Not even that unlikely with Faith involved. If you believed her complaining, Faith needed sex to survive like Buffy needed regular meals, and as Buffy still wasn't giving it up . . .

"And you're telling me this why?"

No, she was being absurd. Faith wouldn't do that to her. Sure they were having difficulties but they were still together. Except not really right now but that didn't mean . . . Faith had been gone a really long time the night before, really long, and when she'd finally come back drunk she'd been going on and on about some guy called Greg . . . but that was innocent, she'd just been pumping him for information . . . oh, God, she wished she hadn't put it that way.

"So what do you want _me_ to do about it?"

That didn't really sound work related. It probably was but . . . it didn't sound it. Squatting to pat down the loose snow on her snowman's body, she subtly watched Faith over the top of it, hoping to tell it was innocent by Faith's expression.

The other slayer didn't look bored or irritated or remotely business-like. She was grinning as she listened to Robin speak. Buffy watched as she dropped a handful of snow onto Olly's head, making him squeal and throw snow at her belly. Dusting his hair off for him, Faith indicated he should roll their big ball of snow some more; helping him with one hand while her other held the phone.

"Yeah, Rob, I get how it's a good idea but you're talking about a two-mile trek."

Buffy had forgotten her jealous musings for a moment because she was getting jealous over the perfect snowman body they were creating, but now she wondered: what was a two-mile trek? Did Giles have information on where the elves were hiding? As all she and Faith had to go on was the area near the ski lift, based on assumption and hope, any actual factual info was welcome.

Faith laughed, catching her attention again. "You want me to walk two miles just to chat to you through a chain-link fence?"

Chatting didn't sound very work related! And the idea that Robin was prepared to come all the way out here to _chat_ to her _girlfriend_ through a fence didn't sit well either. What could he possibly need to see her to chat about that he couldn't say in the conversation they were having right now? Obviously something he didn't want Buffy in on, that was the only explanation, which meant it couldn't be something work related at all!

Oliver had decided the snowman body was big enough; it was already level with his chest. There were bigger ones being built around them – Buffy's would be bigger if she ever managed to get a head on this mountain of snow she had piled up – but Faith was letting the boy run the show and nodded in agreement. Despite her current anxieties, it filled Buffy with happiness to see how well she was working with her little partner.

The happiness was short-lived.

"Hang on, Rob." She took the phone away from her ear to talk to Oliver. Why keep him waiting on the line? Faith often hung up on her with a second's notice when she was busy. "Okay, kid, now we gotta make the head. Want me to start you off?"

"I can do it!"

"Go for it."

Faith stepped back to watch him, putting the phone back to her ear. "Rob?"

This was where she told him she was busy and had to go, Buffy realised.

"Nah, it's cool, I'm just in a . . ." She laughed as if she couldn't believe she was about to say it. ". . . snowman building competition." Olly had a snowball formed ready to make the head – how did he do that so easy? – and Faith pointed him to a fresh patch of snow to roll it in. "Nah, not with B. Don't even know where . . ." Faith turned on the spot to find her. How could Faith not know she was just feet away? She smiled when she saw her, but the smile wasn't for Buffy. "Found her. She's . . . fuck, what is that?" Laughing, she pointed at Buffy's 'snowman'. "I think she got confused, she's building a volcano!"

Buffy glowered at her, imagining Robin laughing at her on the other end of the phone. "I'm just getting started!"

"Sure thing, B." And _then_ Faith turned her back on her as she helped Olly put the head on the snowman.

"Screw you, Faith!"

Faith looked back over her shoulder, the phone still pressed to her ear. "We both know that's never gonna happen, B." She turned away again, adjusting the smaller ball of snow as she said into the phone, "Nah, as annoying as ever. You'd think being on semi-vacation mighta mellowed her out a little. No such luck."

Buffy stood up, fuming her ass off. Sure they were having problems but that gave Faith no right to discuss them with her one night stand. The one night stand that was Buffy's colleague no less! Stuff between them should be personal! Did Faith know nothing about relationships or was she just deliberately trying to embarrass her? Both, probably.

Faith was still talking, "Yeah it sucks but that's life." She gave Olly the carrot to stick in the centre of the head as she pushed two pieces of coal into the face to make the eyes. "Yeah I should be focusing on that, but I don't know. Still thinking. I know Deb D thinks it's the be-all and end-all but it's hard, yunno? Putting that much effort into something I never seem to get right."

As Olly ran off to get his parent's attention, eager to show them the snowman he'd made, Buffy stared at Faith's back, unable to believe she was discussing this with Robin at all, let alone right in front of her!

What came next pushed her over the edge. "Dunno. Get this shit over with here and then I'm thinking its time to give myself a break. Look for something new, yunno?"

Too incensed to think straight, Buffy stormed over to Faith and punched the head off of her snowman. It landed face down and the carrot broke and the eyes fell out. Unable to stop there she started kicking the body and chunks of snow flew through the air. When there were no big pieces left to kick she jumped on it until it was a flattened mess.

"Hey, Robin, don't _bitch_! All I'm saying is maybe the GED ain't for me. I can . . ." Faith noticed the commotion behind her at the same time as Buffy registered her last sentence. Faith turned as Buffy stepped guiltily backwards. "What the hell, B?"

"I'm sorry!"

Behind her a small child started wailing, Buffy didn't need to look to know who it was.

"My snowman!" Oliver cried.

Buffy quickly turned to him, dropping down on her knees to get to his height. "I'm _really_ sorry, Olly. I'll help you build a new one."

"Hate you!" he shouted and ran up to hug Faith's legs.

Buffy felt wretched and, as she met Jan and Tim's hostile eyes, the feeling grew. "I swear I have a good explanation!" she lied.

Faith sighed, looking from Olly clutching her thighs to Buffy's panicked expression.

"Rob, it's been a blast, but I suddenly got a situation to deal with. And just so you know, dude," she sniggered, "I'm never gonna wanna walk two miles just to _chat_ with you. I got me a girlfriend already. Call me if ya find out anything we actually need to know."

Now Buffy felt even worse.

* * *

The heavy snow clouds had been breaking up and drifting away all morning and now the sun was shining brightly, turning the waves from a grey-green to a glittering blue-white. The sunshine was nice, even warm-ish, but there was still a sharp edge to the air.

This was definitely the best way to enjoy the beach, Willow decided as she stared out over the choppy Atlantic Ocean. Back in Sunnydale, afternoons spent at the beach were a little too hot for her and she was always worried that she'd forgotten to apply enough sunscreen and would turn lobster-red at any second (something that happened often, even with liberal amounts of UV protection, thanks to her fair skin).

So as far as she was concerned, this was perfect beach weather and although the snow was deep enough to creep over the edge of her snow boots, at least she wouldn't be finding sand between her toes for the next week.

"I guess we won't be making any sandcastles today, huh?" she thought aloud.

Kennedy had been contentedly watching the small waves too but she smiled at her now. "You like building sandcastles?"

"I did when I was little."

"We could build a snowman."

Willow grinned, "Aren't we a little old for that?"

"You're never too old to build snowmen, Will."

"I didn't know that."

Kennedy laughed, unzipping her thick jacket so that she could take it off. She threw it onto the snow a few feet behind them and then adjusted her gloves comfortably.

"Come on then."

"I don't know how," Willow admitted. She'd never built anything out of snow before. "Will you teach me?"

From the size of Kennedy's smile she obviously considered the simple request to be a big deal. Willow didn't really know why it would be, but it made her own smile just as warm.

"Sure. You start off with just a snowball, big as you can make it."

She demonstrated by picking up two gloveful's of snow and squishing them tightly together. Some of the snow fell away but when Kennedy opened her hands there was a misshapen lump about the size of a baseball resting on her palm. Grabbing some more snow in her free hand she carefully melded that on to the ball too, and then again and again.

Willow watched intently as the ball grew. Soon it was big enough that Kennedy couldn't hold it easily in one hand and add to it at the same time. She set it on the ground and squatted next to it.

"You have to pack the snow carefully or it'll just fall apart." Kennedy added a few more gloveful's until it was about the size of a soccer ball and then stroked her hands firmly around it, smoothing out the snow and making sure it was solid. "Now comes the fun part."

Willow had thought the fun part was watching Kennedy's intense and animated concentration as she taught her how to make the ball. It was like a mellow version of watching her train the newbies, something Willow had always loved even before she'd fallen in love with the girl herself. Kennedy was a force of nature, just like Buffy and Faith, but unlike her best friend and Faith – who were both pretty self-involved when it came to the slayer thing, understandably, she added guiltily to herself, seeing as they'd both been Chosen One's instead of Chosen Many's – Kennedy revelled in sharing her calling and coaching others to reach their own potential.

Now she realised she'd been mistaken, the fun part was watching Kennedy's butt as she bent at the waist and pushed the big snowball along the beach.

"Are you paying attention?" Kennedy asked, sounding amused.

Willow grinned, realising she'd been caught staring. "Lots of attention."

Kennedy straightened up and walked back to her, sliding arms around her waist. "This class is Snowman 101, not Ass Appreciation."

"It can't be both? I'm an excellent multi-tasker."

"There's going to be a pop quiz later," Kennedy threatened.

"On appreciating your ass?" Willow grinned. "Trust me, walk in the park."

Kennedy laughed and kissed her and then laughed again as she went back to the ball of snow, now double the size of a soccer ball.

Willow sighed but it was a happy sigh. She followed Kennedy to where she waited.

"This part's straight forward. You just keep rolling." Kennedy did so and Willow kept pace with her. By the time they'd gone twenty feet the ball had nearly tripled in size. Kennedy shunted it to the right a little and then began rolling it back the other way. Reaching the place where they'd started, she shunted it left into fresh snow.

"Do you want a go?"

Willow stared at the ball that was now higher than her knees! But how hard could it be to roll it through snow? It was soft after all, that's why her feet kept sinking into it.

"Sure." She took Kennedy's place and bent to put her hands on the ball.

She was able to push it along but Kennedy and her darn slayer strength had made it look easier than it was! She was panting by the time she'd made it the twenty feet and knew now why Kennedy had taken her coat off before starting. Playing in the snow was hot work.

"Okay, just take it back to where we were and that should be big enough."

How big did the thing have to be? It was already just an inch shy of her hips! Willow pushed it to the right and then moved behind it once more. It had only made a few revolutions before she'd had enough of the physical exertion.

"Isn't it big enough now?"

"No, it has to be at least up to here." Kennedy held her hand just below her breasts. "Do you want me to take over?"

Willow nearly said yes, but she didn't want her first attempt at making a snowman to be a failure.

After a moment's deliberation she said, "No, I've got it."

She took her hands off of the ball but held them just a few inches away. After taking a breath to concentrate her energies, she started forward again. The snowball rolled along without her needing to touch it.

She expected Kennedy to accuse her of cheating as the slayer watched with a slight frown.

"Is that safe?"

Willow grinned, "I'm not going to crush you to death with it, if that's what you mean."

"I meant for you."

"I don't need dark magick to make a snowman."

"But doesn't it count as personal gain?"

Willow felt a hot flash of annoyance but reason overruled it. She was the one who kept telling everyone she couldn't use magick just for the heck of it anymore after all, making Kennedy's question totally relevant. So instead of lashing out irritably, she explained,

"No one gets that magick is serious business better than me, Kennedy, but this is ultra-light. It's not all that different to the control exercises I'd be doing if we were at home. And if I should be doing them anyway, why not have a little fun at the same time?"

Kennedy thought about it until the ball was back where they'd started again. "Do you miss it? Just being able to use magick for whatever you wanted without worrying about the consequences?"

"No," she answered automatically, but this was Kennedy and she didn't want to pretend in front of her. "Actually, yes. Lots. I mean, not all the time, I'm getting used to the way things are now. And the Chaotic Nerve spell scared me even more than going dark did, I think. It definitely made me more wary of it. If my magick can go on the fritz even when I'm being careful . . . But Giles and Althenea are right, magick is a part of who I am now. I can't run scared from it, that won't do anyone any good. I have to work with it, nurture it, and treat my gift with respect and eventually – hopefully sooner rather than later – I'll find my balance."

"Did Tara have balance?"

The question surprised Willow so much that she blanked on an answer – her brain-space filled only with thoughts of her dead lover for a few moments. Kennedy never brought up Tara any more unless it was in a jealous way but right now she seemed motivated by genuine curiosity; and perhaps concern.

Willow shook her thoughts clear. "She did. Her Magick wasn't the same as mine though. Mine's all flash-bang, but Tara's was more spiritual. She could read auras and pick out emotional ley-lines; totally white. She was the Glinda to my Elphaba."

Kennedy's frown deepened. "So what does that make me?"

"The Kennedy to my Willow," she said with an easy grin.

* * *

This year Santa's Grotto was fifteen minutes away from the resort; and for the guests that was fine, but for the guys lugging all the equipment out there it was hard work.

So Simon was glad it wasn't his job. As Assistant to the Deputy Manager all he had to do was direct the others. Still, he'd left his employee accommodation in a hurry that morning and somehow that had resulted in him forgetting his thermal vest. So he was freezing his ass off and not happy to be out in a field. At least it wasn't snowing yet. The weather man had promised more this afternoon though, so this needed to be done quickly.

"Okay," he called out, teeth chattering slightly. "Put the red carpet down now." He stared incredulously at the guys carrying it. "No, not there! What's the point of putting it down there? There's a three foot gap to the door! Pull it up here."

When that was done correctly he looked around.

"Someone call maintenance, there's three bulbs out on that tree. And while we're at it, someone move the glowy reindeer off of the path before one of the kids can get electrocuted by it. Jeez! You wouldn't think we do this every darn year! Hey, you!"

To be fair though, they didn't normally have the Grotto in the middle of nowhere. It was usually a lot easier to sort out things like electricity and carpets, not to mention the hundred other little things that were on his list, but the Manager – his boss' boss – had insisted it was further out this year. He'd heard through indiscreet whispers that the old guy was getting paid to set up a more traditional grotto but he didn't know how true those rumours were or the reason behind them. His job was just to follow orders. And to try and get these idiots to follow _his _orders.

Twenty minutes later, he called, "Okay, looking better. Did anyone call maintenance yet? And someone get the Nativity scene back to the Nativity barn! Why would it be at Santa's Grotto? That's like saying Santa is God! Not gonna look good for us if there are any ultra religious types in the crowd, is it? That's right, get it gone. Have the presents arrived yet? Don't tell me no, we only have four hours to go."

A teenage boy dressed as an elf was running up the path with a large sack held awkwardly in both hands. "Here they are, Si."

"That's it?" Simon asked as he took the sack. "How many kids are we expecting?"

Someone shouted out, "Twenty-eight."

He looked at the sack dubiously. "And there's twenty-eight in here?"

"Eighteen," said the boy who'd brought them. "They're still wrapping the other ten."

"Nothing like organisation," Simon grumbled. His irritation had more to do with his next task though. "Okay, go wait for the next lot. And tell maintenance we have bulbs out!"

Someone called for his attention but he waved them away. They could wait a minute. With a deep breath he pushed through the wooden door into the Grotto, which was just a wooden shack really. It was dark inside, the lights had been installed the day before but they weren't lit in the entrance room. He reached for the switch to flip them on but something made him hesitate.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" came a cheery voice from deeper within the building.

It should have made him relax. It didn't.

"I've brought the gifts. Well, some of the gifts, enough to be going on with."

"That's good. Children like gifts. It relaxes them."

Good for the children! Simon was holding a whole sack of them and they weren't relaxing him. Neither was the fact that he was speaking to someone he couldn't see. He walked across the room, lit only by the dull light coming through the windows, to the area at the back of the shack that had been curtained off.

He poked his head through. "Shall I bring them in?"

The hired Santa Claus was sitting on his chair – it was hard not to think of it as a throne – and gestured him in with a welcoming wave of his hand.

"Si, it is wonderful to see you again."

"You too, Santa," he said automatically.

A small boy dressed as an elf came to take the sack of presents from him and others were milling about waiting for his instruction. Simon watched the boy with the presents with some confusion, they didn't generally hire such young children, but obviously someone must have done. He didn't approve of having kindergarten kids in the workplace, especially this workplace, but he didn't comment. He might have been a rising star in the ski resort business, but he was only twenty-two years old and hadn't risen that far yet. If his boss had okay'd using five year olds to dress as elves, Simon wasn't going to risk his job by criticizing it.

"Is there anything else you need in here, Santa?"

"No, I believe we are all set," Santa told him.

Simon realised he didn't know his real name, which felt rude. "Santa, I apologise for not already knowing, but is there something I should call you other than Santa?"

Santa smiled graciously. "You can call me Kris, if you prefer."

"Okay, Kris. I'll see you again just before we open, if that's okay."

Kris nodded.

"If you need anything else . . .?"

Kris nodded again, "I will be sure to call for you."

Simon nodded himself and then gratefully fled the Grotto.

Kris Kringle looked around at his elves. "Well, that was boring. See that I am bothered by no more of these adult humans."

A couple of elves left the shadows to do just that. Innoki appeared at his side.

"Are we all set?" Santa asked him.

"Indeed, Sire. The Grotto is scheduled to open in four hours."

"You know I cannot eat from the line anymore. The parents wait right outside."

"We've made arrangements, Sire. All of the very good children have been selected in advance. They'll arrive while the main line is in progress so as not to draw suspicion."

"Good. I'm hungry. How many?"

"Eight, Sire."

Santa nodded, "Eight will tide me over. Si knows we are leaving tonight?"

"He understands you have a commitment at a children's home in Cleveland in the morning."

"Good, good. I don't suppose there is any chance we have a real commitment at a children's home?"

"I'm afraid not, Sire. We'll be spending thirty-six hours in the woods before arriving at the fair."

"Well it can't be helped, I suppose. And is everything prepared there?"

"Laniki is on his way to do that now, Sire. We believe there are approximately thirty children under twelve living in the local area."

"Ah, how I love a feast! That will be a worthy meal before I retire back into hibernation, Innoki. Now, if there is nothing else, I would like a nap before the festivities begin."

"There is nothing else, Sire."

Innoki rushed away to deal with all the final minutiae that he didn't want to bother his boss with. Santa sat back in his throne, resting his hands on his round belly, and closed his eyes for a while.

* * *

It was an hour's walk from the beach back to her parents place and so, seeing that Willow was starting to wilt a little with all the exercise, Kennedy suggested they stop for a coffee at the club before they left. Kennedy had ordered a latte and Willow had asked for a mocha with extra sprinkles and now they were sitting in a window seat, touching toes under the table but staring out of the window in a companionable silence.

"Well, well, we heard you were back." Kennedy looked up at the sudden intrusion. "Sorry we didn't make the party last night. We only got in this morning."

"Hey. Hi." Kennedy stood up, accepting kisses on the cheek from the man and woman standing by their table. "It's nice to see you. This is Willow. Will, this is my Aunt and Uncle. Angela and Carlos."

Willow stood up too, shaking the offered hands. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Angela said, smiling. "We've already heard so much about you."

Willow glanced over and Kennedy shrugged. She didn't know how or why everyone already knew so much about Willow when her parents had only met her the day before, but she'd long given up trying to understand the way her Mom worked when it came to her love life.

"Would you like to join us?" she asked, already pulling out the chair beside her.

"No, we won't intrude," Carlos said.

"We haven't even unpacked yet," Angela explained. "We just popped in for a pick-me-up. So Willow, have you settled in comfortably?"

"I guess so," Willow said and then realising that they were waiting for more added, "Kennedy's bed was really comfortable last night. Oh! Not that I meant it like that! I mean, I was comfortable alone. Kennedy wasn't in there with me!"

Carlos laughed, "Well, plenty of time for that after the big day."

"Exactly! Um . . . what?"

"We won't disturb you two any longer," Angela said with a little grin. "We know what it's like. Hasn't been that long since we were in your shoes, has it honey?"

"Fifteen years," Carlos rolled his eyes playfully, "but it only feels like forty."

Angela elbowed her husband in the ribs before leaning down to give Kennedy a quick hug. "We'll see you tomorrow; we're spending the day with you." Straightening back up she waved a finger between her and Willow as she insisted, "And I want to hear all about it, okay? From the popped question to what colour the dresses are going to be."

Kennedy held up her hand to question that but Carlos had already picked up their order from the counter and they were heading for the door. She twisted in her seat to watch them leave.

"What did they mean by . . .?" Willow didn't finish her question, which was good because Kennedy had no idea how to answer it.

The peace of the moment shattered, they both drank their drinks as fast as they could. Kennedy burnt her tongue on the hot liquid but she didn't care and was already standing before she'd wiped the milk-foam from her lips.

"I think I need to speak to my Mom _now_."

* * *

Buffy hadn't explained her screwed up behaviour over the snowmen competition and Faith had only asked once before declaring she 'didn't give a fuck'. That attitude had pleased Buffy no end, but without a leg to stand on, she'd sat down instead – inside the diner. It was so much warmer than outside that she actually started to thaw out for the first time since finishing her breakfast.

She was watching through the window as Faith and Oliver made another head and stuck it on her own abandoned snowman body. A few minutes later the judging started and it was clear they didn't win anything, which was hardly a surprise. Buffy hoped Faith would come and find her now, if only to yell at her, but she stayed outside, messing around in the snow with Olly, Tim and Jan.

Oh yeah, so she could play happy families just fine as long as Buffy wasn't in the mix!

Her second mocha arrived and Buffy accepted it with a smile, slurping some of the foam off of the top as she looked back out the window. Her not-girlfriend was still fooling about with a smile on her face. She knew attacking the snowman as she had was childish, even _with_ just cause – which as it turned out she hadn't had – but she wasn't a bad person! She was just so frustrated with the way things were between them that for a tiny second she'd let rage take over. It shouldn't have been grounds to exile her to the coffee shop alone!

What did she do now? She'd already apologised to Oliver ten times and he'd apparently stopped caring after the first four. Not that he'd forgiven her. Faith had made her feelings on the subject clear and, in the wrong she might have been on this occasion, but with Faith's general behaviour these days it was hard to keep apologising for something as trivial as stomping on a snowman.

She was still staring out of the window, only really seeing Faith, when someone slipped into the seat next to her. She looked up at Jan in surprise and then slumped in her chair.

"Yell at me, I deserve it, I totally destroyed your kid's innocence."

Jan chuckled, "No, Tim running over his dog destroyed his innocence."

"Oh God!" Buffy put a hand to her mouth and stared out at the stump of snowman that was still visible. "That's way worse! And you're saying I gave him flashbacks?"

"No," Jan laughed fully this time, and Buffy felt indignant. "Jasper survived. He only has three legs now but he survived. What I'm saying is: you made Olly cry but he's over it already. You don't have to hide in here."

"How bad will I look if I say I'm actually hiding from Faith?"

She shouldn't have said that. Not that their cover wasn't already blown by her behaviour, but she should be trying to save it, not ruining it further.

"You two are having problems, huh?"

"No!" she said at once.

Jan waved her into silence and then ordered a coffee from the waitress. "Don't say I mentioned it, but Tim and I did the make-up or break-up vacation a couple of years ago. I recognise the signs."

"But you two seem so solid."

"And we are again now. But after Olly was born we went through a . . . we had a bad year."

"Faith and I are okay," Buffy muttered.

"Okay."

"Did the vacation help?"

"Oh yeah, the two weeks in Bermuda was great. Gave us time to relax with each other again."

"This isn't exactly Bermuda."

Jan looked out at the snowy landscape beyond the window and laughed, "True. Look, if you want to talk about it . . ."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think we have one therapist too many already."

"We did Marriage Counselling too. Sucks doesn't it?"

Buffy hadn't really meant to voice that out loud, but now that she had she looked around at Jan, animated, "It so does! Where do they get off, huh? Like their love lives are so perfect. Do you know what ours suggested? Take a break from each other! How does that help you be a couple?"

"Beats me. I'm assuming you ignored the advice though." Jan waved a hand around to indicate what she meant.

Buffy thought before speaking this time. "Yeah, Faith was so mad she turned right around and booked us this trip."

"And you're mad that she did?" Jan guessed.

Buffy smiled and shook her head. "No, I love that we're here together. It's just that . . . I think our problems go deeper than a vacation can fix. But I'm happy to try it if Faith is."

Someone dressed as en elf came over to clear the table beside them of plates and cups, catching Buffy's attention. Nearly all of the employees were dressed as elves, but this was a shorter than usual someone and Buffy regarded the back of him suspiciously as Jan continued their conversation.

"So what kind of problems are you two having?"

Buffy caught a split-second side view of what could have been a five year old boy wearing plastic elf ears as he wiped the table down. The ears didn't look all that plastic though and she tensed.

"We're not having problems."

"Sorry, I'm being nosy. I just thought I might be able to offer some insight."

His eyes were strange too, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. It was sort of the shape of them and sort of the colour, but neither screamed non-human necessarily. There was just something about them, but she couldn't grab him and scream 'demon' just because he had beautiful eyes. Not that she'd have done that in this busy café even if she'd been totally sure he was a real elf. Plus, when she took a second to concentrate on the signals her body was sending her, none of them suggested a demon was nearby. Then again, the Pixies didn't set off the spider tinglies either so that wasn't really a definitive sign.

The boy-elf moved around them to another table. Deliberately keeping his back to her? Or was that just paranoia?

"I said, maybe I can impart some wisdom," Jan said, not knowing why Buffy had suddenly spaced.

She probably was wrong, but Buffy trusted her intuition on such things just enough to not be comfortable continuing this conversation. If Jan knew she and Faith weren't the happy couple they were trying and failing to make out they were, then that wasn't the biggest deal in the world, but she couldn't risk blowing their cover in front of the enemy.

So, turning to Jan with a bright smile, she said, "Honestly, it's just a hiccup. Faith and I are solid. We butt heads sometimes, and sometimes she can cut a little close to the bone and I . . ." she gave a self-deprecating smile. ". . . sometimes beat the crap out of innocent snowmen, but that's just our thing."

Jan chuckled dubiously, obviously not understanding where this sudden turn-around had come from. "Seriously? But you two are . . ."

She paused, not wanting to be rude, so Buffy finished for her, "A relationship train wreck? Sure, sometimes, but it keeps it interesting. Besides," she stood and pushed her chair in, eying the boy-elf again, who had moved to yet another table but was still within earshot. "If you think the fighting is that bad imagine how good . . ."

"The make-up sex is?" Jan giggled as she stood up with her.

Buffy had only planned to say 'the making up is' but she giggled with her anyway, wishing she had actual experience to back it up instead of lying when she said, "Exactly!"

"Are you really sure though? It's just you were so mean to each other earlier."

Why couldn't Jan let it go? It wasn't like they were real best friends, just vacation buddies. Buffy glanced at the boy, realising just how short he really was now that she was standing up – it had to be a tick in the not-human box. She had to tell Faith the real elves were definitely infiltrating the employees, and that they were possibly being spied on.

"Really sure." Buffy nodded her head to the door. "Come on. I bet ya Faith has forgiven me already. Her attention span isn't much longer than Olly's."

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	16. Act 3:8

Hey, look at this. Two updates in a week :) Thanks for the reviews

* * *

Thanks to Dawn's ridiculous interference the slayers were now researching Hell-Gods and other deities that might be inclined to attack at Christmas. Reece had shouted about it to begin with, especially when Naomi had said the idea had some merit, but no one was listening so now he fumed quietly while continuing his own far more likely-to-be-useful research of local demons.

Surprisingly, over the course of the morning the girls found a few possibilities but none that fit all of the criteria, which allowed him to feel silently smug. He didn't voice his smugness; there was no need to crow, they all knew now that he'd been right.

Instead, while the slayers grumbled that they were still nowhere, he followed Dawn to the kettle under the pretence of helping her make tea.

"We need to talk about last night, Dawn," he said, keeping his voice low.

"What can you possibly say that will make me feel better?" she didn't keep her voice low, but while he was sure every slayer was listening, no one looked up.

"The truth!" he lied.

"I don't want to hear it."

"Stop being a child!"

"Go screw yourself!"

"Patricia is only a . . ." he tried.

Dawn put her fingers in her ears. "Lalalalala. Can't hear you!"

"Oh, to bloody hell with you then." He went to sit back down, his chair scraping angrily on the stone floor as he pulled it in. "Where are we?" he barked at the quietly sniggering slayers.

"Still nowhere!" Alison snapped back. "Did you think we'd find a miracle answer in the two minutes you've been chatting about your love life?"

Reece rounded on her, raising his voice. "Now look here, you little . . .!"

Putting a firm hand on his arm, Naomi interrupted, "Reece, I have an idea. Can we talk outside?"

"Why are you going outside?" Rona asked. "If you've got something, share."

Naomi ignored her. "Reece?"

His chair scraped back even more angrily as he stood up to follow her. Catching Dawn worriedly watching him leave out of the corner of his eye didn't soothe his mood.

"What?" he demanded as soon as the back door had closed behind them.

"I don't really have an idea. I just thought it was wise to force you to breathe for a minute before you alienate the slayers completely."

"The slayers can go and . . ."

"Reece! We're not out of Slayer hearing range."

"I don't care," he snapped, but he didn't finish his original sentence either. He fumed for a while longer, glaring at Naomi, and then took a calming breath of the crisp air. Stepping out for a moment had been a good idea but now that he'd calmed down he didn't like the way his fellow Watcher trainee was watching him expectantly. "Look, Nai, I appreciate what you just did, but I have no wish to talk about my feelings."

"Good."

He smiled charmingly to appease her. "I just don't think it's appropriate to talk about Dawn with you."

"I said, _good_."

He heard her the second time. "Oh."

"I don't intend to be your agony aunt, Reece, but for the record, you talking about Dawn is not going to hurt my feelings."

"Oh." He knew she still carried a torch for him, her recent disagreeable attitude towards him only cemented that belief, but he wasn't going to embarrass her by pointing it out. "Okay then, I understand."

"You could sleep with every woman under the sun and I wouldn't even notice."

He smiled benevolently and only just stopped himself from saying, 'That's the spirit!'

"It's Dawn I feel sorry for." His generous mood left fast, leaving a frown behind. "And Patty of course."

"For someone intent on calming me down you're going the right way to do the opposite."

Naomi went to retort, changed her mind and looked away for a moment. When she turned back, she asked, "So how is Patty? She hasn't emailed me recently."

"Fine. Although she thinks Squire may have hoof thrush."

"That's it?"

"Horace is going over there to take a look today. He's a good vet."

"I mean, that's all you talked about?" Naomi asked.

"It's Pat, what else do you expect her to talk about?" he said, irritated.

Naomi shrugged.

Reece grew even more irritable as he confessed, "She's upset I'm not going back for Christmas! She gave me an earful. To be honest, it was gratifying. Until I was listening to her whinge about it last night I wasn't even sure she'd noticed I've been gone for four months."

Naomi made a sympathetic noise and then cancelled it out by asked, "What about Dawn?"

Now Reece shrugged. "I'm not going back to live in England any time soon. There's no reason Dawn and I can't continue as we have been once she calms down."

"But . . ."

The back door opened and Naomi stopped talking.

Rachel stuck her head out, "There's a phone call for you, Reece." She disappeared back inside, leaving the door open.

Reece breathed a sigh of relief to be released from this conversation. Before he went inside though he had to make something clear. "Nai, I promise you this really isn't the same as . . ."

She cut him off. "I honestly don't care if it is. Just watch your back. The world needs all the Watchers it can get and you're not cheating on _helpless_ girls anymore. If Buffy gets wind . . ."

Dawn bellowed from inside, "Reece!"

He nodded at Naomi while eyeing her suspiciously, wondering if she was planning to be the whistle-blower, and then went back inside.

"What?"

"_Giles_ is waiting to talk to you!" Dawn pointed at the phone before going back to ignoring him.

Reece walked around the table and picked the receiver up from the counter. He took a second to compose his thoughts before lifting it to his ear.

"Hello sir?"

He listened for a minute or two, his shoulders slumping more with every sentence. This was the last thing he needed right now. Not only did he have to tell the slayers he'd had them barking up the wrong tree all morning – which was sure to cause some discontent aimed at him – he also had to go and speak to the damn Piskies!

"Okay, sir, I'll go and do that right now. Did you find anything out . . .?"

Giles had already hung up. Reece cursed under his breath as he replaced the receiver. The last time he'd had any dealings with the little folk he'd been knocked out and kidnapped!

"What was that about?" Rona asked.

If it had been anyone but his slayer asking he would have ignored them, but he immediately saw the advantage.

"Rupert wants us to go and speak to the Piskies together."

Rona gave him a rare smile of camaraderie. "He asked for me to go too?"

"Yes," Reece lied.

* * *

Buffy had walked right up and thrown her arms around Faith's neck, which confused Faith some considering they'd been arguing before the blonde had stormed off. Faith was happy Buffy seemed to be over it, but she wasn't ready to let go of her own anger yet – that had been a hell of a snowman Buffy had killed, maybe one of her best – so she tried to shrug the arms off of her and step back.

"Don't," Buffy murmured.

"Give me one good reason why . . .?"

"We're a happy couple."

"Coulda fooled me."

"We're a happy couple," Buffy repeated and her twitching eyebrow was probably code for something.

Faith took a guess at what, "We being watched?"

She remembered the manager in the bar the night before; she'd never decided whether his watchful frown had been suspicious or not.

"Possibly. I think there are elves working here after all."

"Well, yeah, they're everywhere." Faith gestured as a six foot guy in plastic ears and curly boots walked by.

"No, I mean the genuine little article. He seemed real interested in hanging out near my table and yet real shy about showing me his face. Also Jan was asking a lot of questions."

"You think Jan's an elf?" Faith watched the woman play with her kid. "Pretty sure Olly would be headless by now if she was."

"No, stupid, I just meant if she's asking questions maybe others are too, or maybe others overheard my answers."

"Which you thought about before giving, right? So that they complimented our little sham here and didn't blow our cover?" Buffy's guilty silence was answer enough. "B!"

"Don't raise your voice! I told her it was just a lovers spat and that you'd have forgotten it by now."

"And that's why you're hugging me?"

"Yes."

Faith grinned. She was still pissed off about the snowman and about Buffy blowing their cover _and _about Buffy jumping out of bed earlier when she'd just been getting started, but now she saw a way to turn the tables. "I think people might take more convincing than that."

"What do you mean?"

Faith wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist. "That was a pretty nasty spat. I don't think a hug is gonna cut it."

"You want me to have sex with you right here?"

"See!" Faith was angry all over again. "You think I'm obsessed with sex but you're the one who always leaps straight to that!"

"Keep your voice down," Buffy reminded her again, more urgently than before. "I only jump there because you _are_ obsessed by it!"

"No! You know what? Fuck this charade! I don't wanna play happy families with you anymore. I'm over this shit! Screw the cover! Let's call the cavalry in, hunt down those motherfucking elves and deal with the consequences after. 'Cause the sooner I can walk away from . . ."

Buffy kissed her.

Faith was angry enough she tried to struggle out of it, pulling her head back and pushing at Buffy's shoulders, but it turned out that when Buffy really wanted to kiss someone, they stayed kissing. As soon as her brain gave up the fight her body was free to get on with doing what it really wanted to – kiss back. Instead of trying to push her away she was pulling her closer instead as she enjoyed the mocha-sweetness of Buffy's mouth.

She was still wary, expecting Buffy to pull away the moment she realised Faith was into this, but she didn't, not for a while anyway. Not until a faux-elf walked past them, shouting that it was time to start the toboggan races.

Faith smiled at her, running her hands up and down the outside of Buffy's ski jacket. "So, how about it? Wanna get cosy in a toboggan together?"

Buffy wasn't returning her smile. "I suppose we have to."

"You scared of a little sledding, B?"

"No, I just don't want you to think this lets you off the hook."

Faith laughed, "What hook?"

"We can't call in the cavalry, Faith, we have to make this farce work, but don't think I've forgotten any of what you just said."

"What did I just say?" She'd forgotten in the heat of the moment. Buffy heat was _good_ heat.

"If you want to walk away from me, you really don't have to worry about me trying to stop you."

"What?"

Buffy ignored her. Plastering on a fake smile she grabbed Faith's hand and dragged her over to where a line was forming for the free toboggan rental. As Faith's luck would have it they joined the queue right behind Tim, Jan and Olly, giving her no chance to argue Buffy's statement.

"Hey, see," Buffy said to Jan, swinging their hands loosely between them. "Told you she'd be over it. I am one lucky woman to have such an awesome girlfriend, huh?"

As Jan laughed and agreed that she'd been wrong and they were obviously perfect for each other, Faith grit her teeth and smiled.

* * *

They'd been walking all day! Xander checked his watch and, yep, it would be dark in a couple of hours. The sky had never really brightened despite the sun shining through the clouds once or twice, and it already felt near to dusk as they trudged another quiet, snowy lane.

He was walking back with Andrew and Craig now because the longer the day had gone on the twitchier Alex had become. It was probably out of frustration because all their hunt had turned up so far was enough rabbits to send Anya into a frenzy and a lone deer that had taken one look at the guns – or possibly just them – and high-hoofed it into the trees. Whatever the reason, Alex was a bureaucratic pain in the ass when he was on edge and had become more cop-like and less buddy-like as the day wore on, finding fault with nearly everything any of them said, including Xander's own attempts at cheering on the troops.

He was up front still, with the boy from the village walking beside him. Giles and Robin were behind them, conversing quietly from time to time, and Xander, although he'd never want to admit it, was way happier walking at the back with Andrew and Craig, listening to their silly chatter.

"So if a hellhound jumps out, do you think I can knock it out in one punch?" Craig asked.

"I don't know," Andrew thought for a moment. "Where are you going to punch it?"

"Between the eyes! Where else do you punch a hell-beast?"

"You guys know we don't think it's hellhound now, right?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, but I'm just asking for the future," Craig explained.

"Then, no, you couldn't knock it out with one punch between the eyes. Unless you're a slayer."

"Damn. So how did you survive the one you fought?"

Xander was surprised that story had gotten around, but he probably shouldn't have been. The camp was a hotter bed of gossip than Sunnydale High had been. He thought about making something up, something that made him look heroic and manly, but he knew – thanks to the gossip mill – that would get discounted soon enough.

"I wasn't wearing evening wear."

Craig frowned at him. "What's that mean?"

Andrew took up the story. "My brother trained the hounds to go after people in formal wear, like tuxes and ball gowns, so that they'd automatically head to the prom."

"Wait, your _brother_ did that?"

Andrew looked a little sheepish. Xander whistled to himself while he waited for the kid to sort it out.

"Uh, yeah. He bought them off the black market as puppies and trained them. It was how you settled grudges in Sunnydale."

Xander went to say that was how _bad people_ settled grudges in Sunnydale, but then he remembered his love spell against Cordelia and held his tongue. People made mistakes.

"That is so cool," Craig was about to ask for more details.

Xander couldn't hold his tongue any longer. Craig already had a question mark over his head because of his dad and the lust spell; they couldn't risk him taking a wrong turn because he thought hellhounds were awesome.

Andrew got there first. "It wasn't cool. I mean, it seemed it at the time but that guy in the formal wear store got really hurt, and Xander could have too!"

Craig shrugged, "I just meant being _able _to do that, not actually doing it."

Xander was mollified enough by that answer but changed the subject before Craig could start asking for hellhound puppy training tips – just out of curiosity.

"So what would you do if you met an elf?"

"I don't know," Craig shrugged again. "Give it a cookie?"

"They're the enemy!"

He was still feeling bad about letting the one go in the Mall the day before. He couldn't shake the feeling now that he should have held it for questioning or at least told Giles about its existence. At the time he hadn't thought much of it. It hadn't seemed to mean any harm; it was just taking an illicit break in Vi's rucksack. Now he wondered if it had been a spy, deliberately trying to infiltrate them. It was a long-shot because surely the elves couldn't have known they were on to them by then, but yeah it was bugging him to know that they could have had inside intel on what was going on at the resort and he'd let it go just because he couldn't get out of the busy damn mall fast enough.

"I know what Uncle Rubear said, but he's wrong on this. Everyone knows elves are good. _And _if you give them a cookie they grant you favours."

"You mean like everyone knows Vampires don't exist?" he asked sarcastically.

"But people do know Vampires exist. All of us for starters, plus hundreds of other watchers and operatives around the world, not to mention all the crazies and the lone Vampire hunters that have no affiliation with the council. But you ask one person who knows about elves, they'll all tell you they're good."

"But they're eating little kids!" Andrew wailed.

"Then it must be a rogue community, or . . ." Craig paused for effect and Xander bought into it because he'd never heard the English kid talk so passionately about anything other than Andrew. ". . . it's not the elves."

Xander deflated. "It is the elves. Buffy said it is."

* * *

They hadn't walked back to house. They'd started to but Kennedy was too impatient and called a cab. It picked them up a couple of blocks from the coffee shop. When it pulled up in the driveway Kennedy paid and didn't bother waiting for her change. She didn't bother waiting for Willow to get out either before she was storming towards the house.

Willow followed her anxiously and closed the front door behind her. She really didn't know what was going on but she felt, like Kennedy did, that she wasn't going to like the answer very much. She was trying not to get ahead of herself though, there was probably a perfectly good reason why Kennedy's aunt thought there had been questions and dresses. Not one she could think of, true, but that didn't mean there wasn't.

"Mom."

Willow took a second to wipe her snowy boots on the mat before hurrying across the foyer after Kennedy.

"Mom!"

"In here, honey!" Rosie called from deeper within the house.

It could have been coming from anywhere as far as Willow was concerned but Kennedy followed the sound of it without hesitating.

"Do you want me to wait somewhere for you?"

Kennedy turned her head back to her without slowing down. "Don't you want to confront her too?"

"I'm a guest . . . confronting seems a little rude."

"Well it's up to you, but I'm in full confrontation mode right now."

"I noticed," Willow murmured.

She ended up following Kennedy to a little room at the back of the kitchen. It was bigger than a pantry and had a counter as well as shelves and a large chest freezer, but it was obviously used mostly for food storage. Rosie was lining up tins on the counter; it was a varied selection – everything ranging from stewed steak to apricots. Willow stayed near the door as Kennedy all but ran into the room.

"I'm just sorting things for the food bank," Rosie explained cheerfully. "They had the big drive a few days ago but with you two coming I completely forgot about it. Roxy's offered to drive them over for me this afterno . . ."

"Who cares?" Kennedy snapped. "What have you been saying to Aunt Angie?"

Rosie turned to her daughter sternly. "Did you just ask 'who cares' about the homeless? Because I'm pretty sure we brought _you_ up to care."

Kennedy faltered, "I do, obviously, but don't change the subject!"

"You changed the subject, honey; I was talking about the food bank."

"Mom!"

"What! I speak to Aunt Angela every day. I don't remember every single conversation we have."

"You told her something about Willow and I!"

"That I was happy you met someone? That you were coming here? What?"

"She said you said that I popped a question!"

"I don't remember saying that."

Willow watched Rosie. She'd become pretty adept at reading people over the years, it helped when you battled evil regularly, but Rosie didn't look shifty or like she'd been caught out. She remembered what Roxy had said the night before about her Mom being able to change her tune about Kennedy's disappearance now that she was on the scene.

"Everyone seems to think Kennedy and I are really serious," she said timidly.

Rosie smiled at her. "Well, aren't you? Isn't that what Kennedy was trying to convince me of last night?"

Shoot! Now she remembered what Kennedy had said about her Mom not thinking they were serious _enough_! This called for walking the fine line of seriousness but she couldn't explain that to Rosie in case she thought only kind of serious wasn't serious enough. She could cope for nine more nights without sharing a bed with Kennedy but after the last few months of being forced to do that, she didn't really want to if it could be helped.

So, against all reason, she said, "We are really serious . . . but . . ."

Rosie didn't wait for what came after the but. "There we go then. Nothing to start shouting at me about, Kennedy. So why don't you find me a bag for these tins and then you two can go to the shelter with Roxy."

"But . . ." Kennedy began.

"I think it would do you good," Rosie said with a pointed look at her daughter.

"I know about those less fortunate!" Kennedy yelled. "Since Jesus stopped my allowance I'm one of them!"

"He's 'Dad' to you," Rosie said mildly as she breezed past Willow and out of the room. "Thanks, girls."

When the two of them were alone Kennedy turned to her. "That's not how I meant that to go. Sorry, I choked."

"Me too," Willow admitted. "But maybe she really meant what she said."

"I think there's more chance she meant what she said to my Aunt, but she's not gonna give it up if she did." Kennedy went to the back of the room, looking on shelves near the floor for bags. "I guess it doesn't really matter though. Just 'cause my Mom's on the crazy train again doesn't mean we have to ride it too."

"I guess not. Uh, would you mind if I didn't come to the shelter with you?" she tried to ask in a way that didn't make her sound like she didn't care about the less fortunate. "It's just that I still have to look up the elves for Giles."

"Sure. Come on, I'll set you up on my laptop." Kennedy started to lead the way to bedroom. "See if you can hack into my Mom's email account while you're on it. Let's make sure she's not emailing pastors about available dates."

* * *

"Shut up!"

"B, just hear me out."

"I heard what you said loud and clear, Faith!"

"No, you heard half of what I said loud and clear! You didn't wait for the other half."

"I didn't need to!"

The slope was gentle enough but once they'd picked up speed the toboggans whooshed fast across the snow, down to the people waiting to cheer at the finish line.

"See, this is another example of you only hearing what you want to hear."

"Why would I ever want to hear _that_?"

"I don't know. Easy way out maybe?"

"You think this is the easy way?"

There were six toboggans in the race making vivid splashes of colour on the snow-bleached hill. Theirs was bright pink – a colour Buffy had picked not only because it perfectly complimented her snowsuit but because she knew Faith would hate it. See, she was putting plenty of effort into their non-relationship!

"If you'd let me finish talking before you kissed my face off . . .!"

"Oh, so now you have a problem with me kissing you?"

"That's not what I said!"

"No, it's just what you meant."

They were just inching out ahead of their flanking Blue and Yellow competitors. Purple was still in the lead and Buffy was pretty sure she'd spotted Red plow straight through a holly bush near the top.

Buffy set her sights on the purple one, head down, face determined, as she tried to ignore her passenger.

"How can you think that?"

Buffy ignored her.

"B!"

More ignoring.

"Buffy! Stop ignoring me!"

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm concentrating!"

"We're going down hill in a straight line. What the hell do you need to concentrate on?" Faith dug a finger hard into her back. "You're just acting like a brat!"

"Hey!" Buffy threw an elbow back. Faith blocked it and the most damage was done to their steering. They veered off of their straight line and nearly collided with the Purple toboggan as they were about to overtake it. "Shit!"

Buffy yanked on the steering string – which was a ridiculous method for steering, it was even harder to control than a steering wheel – as she tried to right them. She pulled on it too hard and they went careening the other way so fast they tipped onto their side.

She closed her eyes as churned snow flew up into her face and she slammed her feet down in the toboggan, searching desperately for a non-existent brake pedal. She felt Faith cling to her tightly from behind, cursing Buffy and the toboggan she'd rode in on.

Miraculously they still crossed the finish line first and Buffy sat up, smiling as she wiped snowflakes from her cheeks. Faith was still bitching at her for turning them over, pushing her out of the way as she struggled to get out from between the snow and the toboggan. Buffy gave her a playful push back, shaking off her own embarrassment at their clown car-esque triumph.

"Lighten up, Faith, we won!" she muttered, very aware that they were the centre of a smattering of applause. "Stop glaring and kiss me or something."

"You wanna kiss . . ." Faith muttered back through a fake grin, dragging Buffy up after her and raising their joined hands high in a victory salute. ". . . kiss my ass."

The other toboggans were crossing the line now, taking the focus off of them, but they stayed side by side, holding hands, only letting go to clap as Jan and Olly in the blue whooshed past them.

"So I guess we don't totally suck at doing things together," Faith said quietly.

"Sure, if only life was one big toboggan race . . ." Seeing Faith's tentative smile darken, Buffy checked her sarcasm. "But yeah."

As an elf with a megaphone began to announce the winners, the two shared an almost friendly smile and Buffy reached out to take her hand again as they waited to hear their names.

They didn't, at least not until right at the end. "Red team and Pink team were disqualified for not finishing the race."

"What do you mean we didn't finish?" Faith dropped her hand and took a step towards megaphone-elf. "We finished first!"

"You crossed the line backwards and upside down," was squawked through the megaphone.

"So?" Buffy asked.

"It's against the rules." The elf-man, recognising the menace in their voices, stepped quickly away before his megaphone could be used against him.

Buffy turned to Faith, hands on her hips as the crowd dispersed around them. "That was your fault. If you'd just shut up like I asked you to."

"'Asked'? Stretching that word a little ain'tcha? And, hey, I'm not the one who can't control a damn sled down the junior slopes."

"I'm sorry, I must have been in the self-control class while you were taking the sledding one."

"Are you saying you have more self-control than me?"

"I'm saying I have more every-kind-of-control than you, period!"

"Yeah, well you don't control me."

"I don't want to control you, you moron!"

Faith sneered at her and, picking up the long pink toboggan, started to walk after the others.

"But, Faith . . ." Buffy called after her. "I _could_ if I wanted to!"

Faith gave her a one-fingered wave as she continued to walk away.

Buffy stamped her feet in the ruffled snow, feeling cold now that the heat of their argument was fading. She didn't want to control Faith, usually; where would be the fun in that? Half of Faith's allure was that Buffy never knew what she would do or say or think next. It was intoxicating . . . when they were getting along anyhow.

Right now she wished she did have control over the infuriating woman, the kind that came with a remote control so that she could walk Faith repeatedly into a brick wall. Maybe after bashing her head against it a few times she'd understand how Buffy was feeling.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. More soon._


	17. Act 3:9

Okay, I'm just not going to say 'More Soon' again because it always leads to the exact opposite outcome. That said, I am so very sorry for the ridiculously long gap between updates. I became seriously side-tracked by something else for a while, but I'm back now with a vengence (or something).

Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter :)

* * *

Buffy wanted to sit out the Christmas Bingo, she'd had her fill of number games in Math class, but when Faith had heard there was a hundred dollar top prize she had insisted. Buffy had no choice but to go along and play nice.

At the front of the diner an elf – human-sized – was reading out numbers. He was annoyingly fast and she spent most of the time with her pen hovering in the air as she tried to remember what the number before last had been. It wasn't long before she gave up playing and concentrated on drinking her hot cocoa while watching Faith put dayglo blue splodges on her card at the speed of light.

"Never figured you for a Bingo queen," she mused.

"Never really played before," Faith muttered, never missing a single number. "But my Mom was screwing a Caller for a while, used to drag me along."

"That must have been fun." Faith took a split second to glare at her. "What? I wasn't being sarcastic!"

"I know."

"Oh. So not so much fun?"

"'Bout as fun as talking to you is right now."

"Hey, I was being nice!"

"Yeah, only because someone might overhear you."

Buffy couldn't deny that.

"Like I said, I'm done with that shit. You wanna be nice to me because you actually _like _me then I'm in, but I ain't bullshitting anymore."

Buffy was silent while she thought about it. It was dangerous for them to blow their cover but she couldn't say she wasn't also sick of pretending. Even just sitting here calmly was difficult. It hurt actually, because inside all she wanted to do was run off to a dark corner somewhere and cry over a breaking heart. All around them were actual happy couples – people who already had everything that she wanted with Faith, and she could feel the opportunity for them ever getting there too slipping away with each word said.

She didn't know how to get back to where they had once been but she did know that their forced 'break' coinciding with this particular mission had been a disastrous step in the wrong direction.

More upset than angry now, she reacted to Faith's words instinctively and reached out to take her hand. Faith's pen hand was closest and she automatically tried to pull away to keep jabbing at numbers on her card, but when she registered Buffy's insistence she stopped and let her hand be held, watching her warily.

A few more numbers were called before Buffy found the courage to speak. "No matter what's going on here or with us right now, Faith, I do still . . ."

Someone across the room shouted 'Bingo!'

"Dammit, Buffy, I coulda had those numbers!" Faith snapped, pulling her hand away in annoyance.

". . . like you," Buffy finished in a murmur.

Although she couldn't figure out why as she watched Faith walk away from her, storming outside for a cigarette

* * *

Willow could find nothing about elves on the internet!

Actually, that wasn't even a little true, she'd found lots of stuff about them – history, habitat, language, laws, customs, a whole site dedicated only to their social structure – but every link she clicked on was in some way informed by either J.R.R Tolkien, an endless bunch of other fantasy authors or the people who devoted their lives to playing Dungeons and Dragons. Willow didn't even know why Giles had insisted she search for info on them when he already had _Andrew _right there.

She clicked on another link. More Tolkien! She'd read all of his books as a teenager so this wasn't teaching her anything new! She was starting to wish she'd gone with Kennedy and Roxy to the homeless shelter after all. It would have been a more productive use of her time than this, plus you never knew when those good karma points would come in handy.

She looked around Kennedy's bedroom for inspiration, not that she was really expecting it to help with her current task but her mind was wandering and sometimes that led to fresh ideas. It was kinda bare compared to her childhood bedroom, but that was probably understandable. After all, this was just Kennedy's vacation home, not the place where she'd done most of her growing up. There were books on the shelves, not many because Kennedy wasn't much of a reader. They differed hugely on that score – Willow had been lapping up fiction and non-fiction since the day she'd learned to read, her insatiable thirst for knowledge insisted on it, but the books on these shelves consisted of a dozen almost pristine young adult fiction and Anne Rice novels and a few well-thumbed instruction books for fighting: wrestling, martial arts, one about fencing.

What did Kennedy's parents make of her book choices? Did they assume she was just a tomboy with well-structured violent tendencies? She'd had a Watcher since she was eight but her parents had thought they were hiring a tutor. A tutor that helped her with her studies so well they'd obviously turned a blind eye to the extra curricular training he'd been giving her. As a child, Willow, proud as punch, had showed her parents every new thing she learned to the point where she must have gotten so predictable, or annoying, that they'd just stopped being interested in her achievements. Had Kennedy come running home one day – nine years old and full of the excitement of learning something special – to tell her parents in great detail just how well she could shoot a crossbow?

Willow glanced at the books again. Maybe Tolkien had met an elf as a boy and had been itching to tell someone about it. Maybe his parents had told him not to be so silly and his friends had laughed at him. What if his fiction was actually based in fact? She thought back to when she'd first discovered vampires were real. The last thing on her mind had been a book deal but it had crossed her mind once or twice since. Write the real story, let people know what was really out there, bank a million bucks in film sales . . . But she never would because it was too dangerous, for Buffy – all slayers now – and the general public.

The pixies weren't a danger to anyone though. Willow could do a 'tell all' on the little folk that shared their home and class it as fiction. It would fit right into the fantasy genre. Of course, it wouldn't be very interesting because all they did these days was hide in the woodshed, but the principle was sound – she'd met pixies and so she could write convincingly about them.

What if Tolkien really _had_ met elves?

* * *

Dawn looked up as Reece and Rona came back into to the kitchen. God, she hated the way he looked all sexy with his cheeks pink from the cold and his . . . actually he looked less sexy and more beat up, so did Rona.

His hair was mussed and he had a small purplish bruise forming on his cheek. Rona's top was torn up the sleeve and at the neck. Reece was sweating hard, Rona was out of breath. They didn't look good. Although Reece was still managing to look sexy, Dawn noted with chagrin.

"What happened to you two?" she asked in horror.

"Bloody Piskies!" Reece grunted as he sat heavily in his chair at the table.

"So they weren't any help?" Vi asked, getting up to hover worriedly near Rona.

"They're gonna help." Rona said, dropping her head onto the open book in front of her. "Least they said they were."

"Then why do you both look like . . . that?" Alison asked with a chuckle.

"Wonder-Watcher here _insisted_on barging into the woodshed without knocking. Ten seconds later . . ." she pointed between herself and Reece.

"Are you okay?" Vi asked.

"We'll heal." Rona suddenly grinned, "Least I will."

Dawn impulsively looked to Reece, "Are you going to heal?"

He shifted in the kitchen chair as if he ached all over. "Eventually. So where are we?"

"In the kitchen," Alison deadpanned and then raised her hand. "Reece, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"That's a thumb. Have you discovered anything new?"

Dawn looked down at her pad of paper. The top page was filled with the scribblings she'd made while researching but she had to admit. "No. There are no deities that only attack at Christmas. . ."

"I already told you that."

She ignored him. ". . . but there are no demons either. So either every attack over the last hundred years has been made by random demons or it really is wolves."

"Rupert says it's elves. Did you find anything about elves?"

Irritated, Dawn snapped, "You never told us to look for elves."

"I didn't know to until he called," Reece snapped back. "Did you find anything or not?"

"No! What did the pixies have to say?"

"Nothing we could understand," Rona said, "but when he mentioned elves they went into kind of a . . ."

"Frenzy?" Miranda asked.

Rona shrugged, "More of a pow-wow. They were definitely interested but they didn't feel like sharing."

Dawn was being nudged by someone's elbow and she looked to the source.

Rachel whispered, "What about the Old Ones?"

Dawn sighed, knowing it was irrelevant information. She was just going to look stupid in front of Reece for mentioning it. Still, it was something and there was that old saying about no question being too stupid, right?

Thinking of that made her phrase it like a question, which was stupid. "There's one demon, an old one, like one of the ones that came before civilization, that might fit?"

"An Old One?" Reece scoffed. "They died out before the first vampire was even created."

"Actually not so much," Vi said, pointing at a paragraph in the book before her. Dawn had already read it but she wasn't sure how useful it was. "Everyone knows that the last Old One to leave our plane made the first Vampire . . ."

"I didn't know that," Rachel said quietly and Miranda and Cici murmured the same.

"Well, now you do. Welcome to Slayer 101." Vi said, and then hesitated. "Or, unless, am I the only one who knew that?"

"The rest of us all know it," Reece sniped impatiently.

Rona shrugged, "I didn't know it."

Dawn smiled at Vi. "You're old school, it's good. Giles would be proud of you."

Vi smiled back. "Thanks. So it turns out everything we know is balderdash! According to this book anyway. Old Ones were still abundant until at least two thousand years ago and it's totally possible some still survive."

"Then how come we don't know about them?" Reece asked.

"Because they're mostly dormant," Dawn said. "They only wake up maybe once or twice a year and so their feedings are blamed on other demons."

"Okay." Reece nodded. "So what Old One are we talking about?"

Dawn had expected him to take longer to convince and it was embarrassing not having an answer for him right away. She looked to Vi to field the question, who looked to Rona, who looked to Alison . . .

* * *

Lunch was as rowdy as breakfast had been. Faith didn't mind it so much now though. After her smoke earlier, she'd gone back inside to the Bingo and won a twenty for a straight line. It had almost made up for Buffy's hostility.

Except not.

But she was just done caring about it now. She and Buffy were as good as finished and while that tore her up in ways she'd never imagined before, at least it was done. They were over and Faith had survived it, the worst had passed. It wasn't as if she hadn't been expecting it since the day Buffy had first said she had feelings for her. She'd always known it would end sooner rather than later and that it wouldn't be her choice when it did. She'd been waiting since the day she'd arrived in Boudenver for this to happen, now it had; end of, right?

Except all the expectation in the world hadn't prepared her for how much it actually _hurt_. She'd experienced plenty of pain in her life, but none like this. This was . . . She didn't have words, but it made her want to beat something to death with her bare hands. She wanted to punch and punch and kick and kick until that something was as beaten and bloody on the outside as she felt on the inside.

She wasn't gonna do it, hopefully, but the internal rage was definitely there, trying to battle her sense into submission. It wanted free reign and the harder she fought to keep it reined in the more manic she felt about it. It'd be a damn sight easier if Buffy didn't feel the need to keep beating their dead horse of a relationship too.

"I'm just trying to point out that as walking away from me metaphors go, you walking away from me was a pretty damn clear one."

Faith put a forkful of frank and beans into her mouth, the best frank and beans she had ever tasted, as she answered. "I needed a cigarette."

"So a cigarette was more important than me?"

"I don't know, B, is getting the last word more important than me?"

"I'm not trying to get the last word!"

"It's what you've been doing all day! Every time I've tried to say something important you've jumped in before I can finish."

The restaurant was loud enough that Buffy didn't feel she had to keep her voice down. "Well maybe if you talked about something that . . ."

"It's not me talking that's the problem, it's you not listening."

"Oh, I listened good and hard, Faith. You can't wait to walk away from me."

Faith sighed and set her knife and fork down. She wasn't done with her food yet but she had to make this clear once and for all. "I _wanted_to walk away from this situation, not you!"

"You didn't say that."

"Well like I said, bitch, you didn't listen to the . . ."

Buffy's knife and fork clattered to her plate too as she leant across the table. "Did you just call me a bitch?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it like . . ."

"Did you call me a bitch or didn't you?"

"Yeah. But . . ."

"So you tell me you want to walk away from me and then you call me a bitch. Why would I even want to listen to you any more?"

Faith threw her eyes towards the ceiling. "I can never win with you!"

"Know where would be a good place to start? Not calling me a bitch and not telling me you want to walk away from me!"

Obviously not so concerned about their cover anymore, Buffy threw her napkin down and walked away from the table.

* * *

They were walking in twilight now, an extremely grey twilight. They'd passed the boundaries of Snow Dunes an hour ago but as Faith had declined to meet them they'd seen nor heard anything of interest. In fact that pretty much summed up the entire day and as Alex was growing less talkative as the day wore on Giles was beginning to think this had been an extremely terrible use of his time.

His mobile phone rang and, ignoring Alex's angry glare, he answered it. "Hello? Ah, yes, Willow. Considering you've had a whole day please tell me you have something useful for me?"

He listened to her half-irritable, half-excited reply.

"And you believe that has some merit?" She told him her reasoning. "Then as that's all we have I'm prepared to accept your hypothesis."

Alex was still shooting him angry looks, like his talking was going to scare off the non-existent wolves. As Willow was complaining about his less than enthusiastic reply he felt comfortable ignoring the deputy sheriff's complaints for now.

"I was not suggesting you were wrong, Willow, only that it's rather a flimsy basis. But give me the facts as you see them and I'll duly take note."

As Willow gave him a list of J.R.R Tolkien's elf specifics, Alex halted their company by planting his feet and taking aim at the hedgerow.

"What is it?" Xander asked in a hushed voice from right behind him.

"Don't know yet," Alex admitted. "Just saw movement."

Darkness was coming on fast now so Giles had to commend him on being able to see anything in the verge – if in fact he had seen anything and wasn't just irritable and jumpy. It was probably just another rabbit anyway.

Willow was still talking in his ear and Giles kept his voice to a murmur as he answered her, "But if all of them are good, why are they doing what they are doing?"

"Would you turn your damn phone off," Alex snapped out of the corner of his mouth, gun still trained and his finger on the trigger. "This is hardly the frickin' time to be talking about your stupid wildlife club!"

"Hey, Al, take it easy," Xander said calmly. "Giles is barely whispering."

Alex spun around, rifle too, to face Xander. "I'll take it easy when kids stop dying in my town!"

Giles was between Alex and Xander, something he wasn't very happy about when a gun was involved. "Deputy sheriff, do I need to point out where your weapon is aimed right now?"

Alex turned his gun away and looked again for the movement he had seen in the hedgerow. "Knew it was a mistake to bring you guys along."

Giles returned his attention briefly to his mobile. "Thank you, Willow. I'll keep in mind what you've said. Enjoy the rest of your holiday." Just as he ended the call Alex fired a shot into the verge, making him jump out of his skin at the loud retort. "What the . . .?"

Snow kicked up around the bullet's passage but Alex didn't hit what he'd been aiming at. Giles knew this for sure because less than a second after the blast something purple scurried from the hedgerow with its hands held over its ears.

Alex saw it too and swung his rifle around for another go.

The flash of purple had run between Giles legs and he yelled out, "Don't shoot!" scared that someone would lose a foot if Alex fired off a wild shot.

"Get out of the way!" Alex yelled, looking fully prepared to shoot again whether they obeyed or not.

"I got it!" Craig threw himself in front of the gun, landing on his knees in the snow.

While Giles wanted to kick him for his stupidity, he instinctively surged forwards and grabbed the barrel of the rifle instead to push it away from his God-Son's head. Already too tense and surprised at being rushed, Alex's finger accidentally squeezed too tight on the trigger and another shot rang out in the deepening darkness.

Everyone froze, except Giles who was shaking rather badly and feeling slightly deaf from the blast.

Motion and blather soon returned despite his glassy stare and ringing ears. The gun was pulled away from his fingers and then Alex had a big hand on his shoulder, urgently checking him over.

"Did I hit you, sir? Are you shot?"

"No, I'm quite alright."

"You just risked your life for a mouse, sir, I don't think you're even a little alright." Alex said gruffly and then moved on. "Was anyone else hit? Frazer, get those damn flashlights out of your pack so we can see what the heck we're doing!"

Before the young lad had completed his task it was made clear no one had been wounded by the bullet, although Andrew was wailing about how he had felt it fly past his face – it was probably just his overactive imagination – and Robin and Alex were having a heated argument about whose recklessness had been to blame.

Giles finally regained the ability to blink and shake off the after-effects of the close call. He put a hand on Craig's back as the boy was standing up again, reassuring himself that he was okay and then turned to Xander.

"Alright?"

Xander gave a grim nod. In the beam of Frazer's torch his face looked shiny with a sudden sweat and far too pale.

"Xander?" Giles stepped to him and put a hand on his shoulder, realising too late that he'd approached his blind side in the dark. His friend flinched hard and spun to him, batting one hand out to push him away. Giles stepped back to give him space. "I'm sorry. Nobody's hurt, Xander. Everyone's okay."

He nodded again. "I know." But he really didn't look as though he did. "I'm fine," he added, but again Giles wasn't convinced.

He watched him for a moment, until Xander became uncomfortable and stepped away. Giles decided drawing attention to his reaction wouldn't help right now and concentrated on the main group instead, but as soon as he was able he took a flashlight from Frazer and passed it casually to Xander, thinking he might feel better being in control of some of the light.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Alex was shouting at Craig, who was still dusting snow off of his knees with one hand.

"Now hang on a minute," Giles intervened, because he wanted to be the one shouting at the lad.

"No I won't hang on, and I'll get to you in a minute, sir, but for now I want you to know I hold you responsible for the kids actions as well as your own," Alex fumed.

"Now look here . . ." Giles began.

"No, look here," Craig said, not in the slightest worried about Alex shouting at him or of anything else that was going on. "This is what you were trying to shoot. Ya probably owe him an apology for that."

Craig was holding a pixie in his hands, managing to keep a firm grip while remaining respectful of the little being. Alex stepped closer to peer at it as Frazer pointed his flashlight, and then took a bigger step back, gripping his rifle instinctively tighter and obviously employing all of his self-control not to aim it directly at Craig's hands.

"What the hell is that?"

Craig held the pixie to his ear and then said, "He says his name is Josiah."

Alex might have thought the boy was playing him for a fool if he hadn't heard the whispered sentence just as clearly as Craig.

* * *

There were four sleighs lined up out the front of the resort's reception, with four reindeers apiece to pull them. They weren't plastic or even fiberglass but made of good, solid wood, beautifully carved from top to bottom and stained in red and green to reflect the Christmas theme. Each sleigh was decked out in small, white fairy lights and the reindeers all had small loops of silver tinsel around their necks that reflected the lights and made them sparkle.

She'd told Buffy point blank she wasn't going on it after lunch when she'd found Buffy in a foul mood back at their cabin. It was gonna be all romantic, riding through the snow at sunset, and she was not up for that. Not that there would be much of a sunset with the cloud cover. There was more chance of them getting stuck in a blizzard. She'd stated these points calmly and then not so calmly to Buffy; also pointing out they were here to do a job and not take rides on reindeer sleighs just for funzies.

Buffy had counter-pointed that the route the reindeers took was the same as the husky ride and if they wanted to actually go out there and do what they were supposed to be doing, they had to get to where they'd seen the elves the night before.

It was hard to argue with that, so here they were, sat on the fourth sleigh in line – she'd decided that was the best vantage point and Buffy had agreed mostly because the other three were already over half full when they arrived – with Jan and Tim sat opposite them and Olly climbing all over _her._

"Hell, no, kid," she'd murmured at first, trying to push him back off, but he'd refused to be moved easily.

Now they were swiftly heading west across the snow and she was being used as a monkey gym. She could tell Buffy was loving her discomfort, although she was hiding it under the guise of a loving girlfriend, smiling at her a lot and telling her how adorable she looked. Didn't she get how much harder that made it for Faith? Or was that her intention? She'd always considered that out of the two of them, Buffy was the good one because that was her nature . . . right now Faith was reconsidering – maybe she was just a good actress.

"Hey, how about _you_ look _adorable_for a while," she finally snapped.

"Nah, he likes you best," Buffy smirked, hiding her evil glee by leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"If he's bothering you," Tim began.

Faith sighed in defeat, "Nah, he's cool."

"He's a little over-excited because the _magic reindeers _are taking him to meet Santa Claus," Jan explained as Olly continued to climb all over Faith.

The last thing Faith felt like was a magical reindeer ride. Especially considering it was false advertising. There was no such thing as magic reindeers, just like there was no such thing as Santa – she'd figured out that little lie at a young age.

But she bit her tongue, grinned through clenched teeth and said, "Sure."

* * *

In a barn behind the main resort Innoki was shouting instructions out to his fellow elves, trying to hurry them along. Personally he'd have been happy for them to take their time, to take too long even, but that would end in trouble for him. There was a high turnover for the job of Santa's Chief Elf, for while it came with several choice benefits it was not a position to be coveted by any sane elf's standards. Innoki had been promoted only two years ago and although he didn't take much pride in his work, he did the job exceptionally well. It was that or follow the fate of so many of his predecessors and end up an elven statistic.

"Faster, faster," he called out in mellifluous Elvish. "There is no time for delay! Hyorgo, get out from under Dasher's hooves before you are squashed. Siqueri, tighten Blitzen's reins, they are trailing. Remira, bring Comet around to the front."

While they bustled around him he walked to the last stall in the line. The reindeer still inside dropped his head over the door to Innoki's level, nuzzling his hat excitedly as he waited to be led to his lead position at the head of the team.

The elf reached up to rub under his chin. "I am sorry, my friend, you will not be joining us tonight. Our mission requires stealth and you are not good at that."

A bright red nose became slightly dimmed in sadness. Innoki produced a carrot from his pocket and held it up for the reindeer to munch on morosely. He hated to be left behind, but it was the price of fame.

Ten minutes later two young elves heaved the large barn doors open and a small, plain wooden sleigh moved out slowly until its runners met the snow outside. It picked up speed until Dasher and Blitzen and Comet and Prancer were galloping along. A minute later their hooves left the snow and the sleigh was airborne.

* * *

"So where did you two meet?" Jan was asking.

"Outside a club in my home town," Buffy said. "Faith was just passing through, but she took one look at me and decided to stick around." Buffy gave her a sickly sweet smile. "It was obsession at first sight, right honey?"

Faith gave her an equally fake smile. "Obsession might be pushing it, Twinkie."

"Really? I don't think so."

They'd been travelling half an hour now, Faith was counting the minutes as she tried to hold the little boy still for five seconds. Buffy was grinning at her plight.

Snatching at a small foot as her left breast was painfully squashed, she hollered, "Hey, Ol, careful, my tits are not footholds!"

Jan and Tim frowned at her language and Buffy hid her laughter behind her hand. Faith couldn't handle much more of this! Not Olly, she could deal with the brat no matter how much she wished she didn't have to, but if she had to pretend to be a happy couple with Buffy for much longer she was gonna break. Her dramatic statements about not going along with this sham anymore were harder to uphold in front of their new best pals; she just couldn't bring herself to tell Buffy to go to hell in front of them. This was killing her though.

"How much longer do we have?" she grunted.

Tim looked at his watch. "About another hour and a half. We'll be stopping for the cocoa and cookie break soon though I think."

Faith groaned under her breath as she dragged Olly back down from trying to climb on her head. That meant they had ages until she could jump off of this damn sleigh.

* * *

"So what the hell is it?" Alex asked again, more fervently than before.

No one was answering his questions yet he had the feeling that everyone, with the exception of Frazer, knew exactly what it was. From a safe distance he shone a flashlight on the thing in the English kid's hands. He wanted to tell himself that someone had spray painted a mouse purple as a joke but he'd heard the thing _speak_! Actual words, that had kind of been gibberish but not gibberish enough to sound like animal noises. Plus it was staring at him, and what was staring at him looked a lot like a person. Tiny and purple, for sure, but it had the body of a person, and the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of a person.

It was a person. A tiny, little, purple person!

"What the hell is it?"

"It's a pixie," Craig finally said.

"Don't BS me, what is it?" he insisted.

"It is in fact a pixie," Mr. Giles said. "Piskie, actually, to use their true name, but you would know them as pixies."

"I do not know that. What I do know is pixies are fantasy creatures. They're make believe. So either someone tell me what it really is or I'm taking you all back to the lock up!"

Xander stepped up, speaking for the first time since the misfired shot as far as Alex knew. "Look at it, Al! It's a small, purple person who speaks English, sorta. Why would you think we're lying to you?"

He didn't know but he wanted them to be. He was a practical man, and he knew pixies didn't exist, so how could this be true?

"Giles, you gotta do your speech," Xander said.

"I really don't think that would be wise."

"Fine, I'll give my version of it. Alex, the supernatural is real . . ."

"Xander," Robin tried to cut him off.

Xander ignored him. "Everything you used to think went bump in the night as a kid, really goes bump in the night. Vampires, werewolves, monsters . . . they're all real."

Alex stepped up to his friend. "Xander, are you okay?"

"I'm fine! And I'm telling you the truth. The undead walk among us, Al, all kinds of undead."

He'd never heard his friend talk such nonsense before. Sure there had been a couple of times at the bar when Xander had started spouting stuff that made no sense but Alex had assumed he was just drunk and messing with him. He wasn't drunk now though. So maybe what he'd said at the bar had been cries for help instead. He'd assumed having these guys up at that damn camp was an improvement on the folks that had been there before, but now he was starting to think he was wrong. Obviously something really weird was going on up there, some kind of bizarre brainwashing and his friend was caught in the middle of it.

"Xan, buddy, I think you need some help," he said, warily watching Mr. Giles and the black guy in case either of them tried to rush him again.

"You and everyone else," Xander said, "but it doesn't change the fact that Craig is holding a pixie in his hand."

The little purple thing couldn't be denied and Alex looked at it again; wondering if he'd accidentally eaten some wild mushrooms on the hunt - ones that he couldn't remember eating now because he was high. He didn't feel high, but he did feel freaked out.

"Helow," the thing, Josiah, said, waving to him with a little purple hand. "I caame tow heelp!"

The accent was strange but he understood the words.

Alex shook his head. "I think I need to sit down."

* * *

"So it was fate?" Tim grinned. "You two getting together."

"Guess so," Faith said.

Olly was taking a turn at climbing all over Buffy now but she looked around him to add, "We just clicked."

Jan weighed in, smiling, "That's nice. Took Tim six months to realise he even liked me."

"Hey, not fair!" he laughed. "I always knew I liked you, it just took me that long to get my act together."

"I know that! Took B long enough to come around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked genially as she bounced Olly on her knees so fast he was probably about to puke with how much he was giggling.

"I mean, I was into you for a long time before you knew I existed."

Buffy gave her a look. "Oh, I think I knew you existed, Faith."

"Yeah, but not in a good way."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Not all mine."

"So you're saying you didn't . . ." Buffy adjusted her hold on the little boy now trying climb over her shoulder. ". . . do that thing you did, and then try to blame me for it, before doing it again but in a way worse way?"

Faith shrugged, "No, I did all that. I'm just saying I liked you before all that."

"Oh you did? Thanks for the update, honey. That makes it all better."

Faith had actually thought admitting that might make a difference. She couldn't remember if she'd ever told Buffy how she'd felt before the whole Allan Finch thing had happened but she'd kind of assumed she must have done or else why would Buffy have suddenly decided to be open with her feelings before the end of Sunnydale? Faith knew she didn't project much that would spur anyone to randomly fall in love with her, so she must have been throwing some signals out there. Ones that took four years to penetrate, sure, but that sounded about right.

Buffy's sarcasm proved her wrong yet again though. "Buffy, I can't change our past, okay! I wish I could. But I'm trying to not let it affect our future! Can you say the same?"

"I'm not the one who is letting it affect our future."

"Seriously?" Faith shook her head in disbelief. "'Cause you haven't really seemed on 'Team: Us' since I got back."

They were drawing attention from everyone in the sleigh now. People were openly watching their argument. Jan was trying to pry Oliver away from Buffy – who seemed only too happy to give him up but the kid wasn't cooperating – and Tim was looking out over the snow covered slopes, trying to pretend they were way more interesting than the argument.

"I told you I couldn't get over it all just like that."

"You also told me you loved me."

"Who says the two have to be mutually exclusive?

"Anyone with half a brain?"

"You really hurt me, Faith!" Buffy reminded her, voice rising.

"Blah blah blah! We both know that already. Tell me something I don't know, like . . . are you ever going to get over it?"

Buffy was obviously pissed but she held her tongue. She was hugging Olly like a teddybear now, proving anger wasn't the only emotion she was silently battling with. Faith waited, staring her down, eyes demanding an answer.

She waited too long and the line of sleighs, with theirs at the rear, slowed to a halt at the top of a bluff. It was time for the half hour rest stop. Being the first in meant they were going to be the last to disembark. Faith kept up her staring, hoping to make Buffy uncomfortable enough that she would blurt the truth out. It didn't work. As Olly jumped off of her knees, eager to run around in the snow, Buffy turned her face away.

From the look Jan gave her as she let her husband help her down from the sleigh, she'd taken Buffy's side. How was that fair? Bitch didn't even know what they were arguing about! She was used to it though, everyone always took Buffy's side, so she forgot about her the second Jan had walked away and turned back to the blonde.

"B, I need to know for sure. So if you know, tell me. 'Cause I can put up with your bullshit if there's gonna be an end to it, but . . . if not . . ." she left her sentence hanging, desperate to have a reason not to finish it.

"Then I don't know what to tell you, F. Considering that _my_ _bullshit _isn't even knee-high compared to yours." Buffy hopped down from the sleigh and walked off.

Sighing, Faith stared after her. She was starting to miss the lying to protect their stupid cover story.

* * *

There was a rock, as flat as a table and thigh-high. The kid from the camp, Andrew, had brushed the snow off it for him and Alex had gratefully sat down. He felt like he should be standing, and possibly shouting, or failing that heading to see a doctor, but for now sitting quietly was good. He was feeling shaky and uncoordinated all of a sudden, but only because he'd nearly shot two people at point-blank range, not because he believed for a second that pixies existed. To believe that would be ludicrous.

Everyone else was still huddled around the purple thing in Craig's hands. He could hear them perfectly, even through the buzzing in his head, and especially that strange and hard to fathom accent.

"So it's true?" Mr. Giles was asking.

"Yis, theyme caam mos winteers."

"But they're not evil, right?" Craig asked.

"Naw."

"No they're not evil or no they are?" Robin tried to clarify

"Theyme nawt evaal, jus squally misgudded."

"I'm sorry?" Mr. Giles asked.

"Squally misgudded," Josiah repeated. It didn't clear anything up for Alex, nor did anyone else seem to understand it either. Getting this, the purple thing tried, "Nawt evaal, jus eel-conseellid."

Shaking his head, still not understanding, Mr. Giles asked, "Do you know their plans? What do they come here to do?"

As the thing gave more gibberish as an answer, Alex wondered who 'they' were. Was it possible he was talking about the wolves? How could that thing know anything about them? Then again, if it was an animal of some kind maybe it had some inside knowledge of the other wildlife in the area. Except that was ridiculous because no animal could speak! Certainly none that lived around here! Maybe they had talking purple mutated mice in a crazy state like California, but in Ohio they only had normal-coloured, non-talking mice that _didn't look like people_!

Still, he had to know. "Frazer, is it talking about the wolves?"

"No idea, Alex. I'm still trying to pretend it isn't talking at all."

"Okay, so let's just cut to the chase," Xander was saying. "Are the elves eating the children?"

"What?" Alex muttered. He must have misheard. "You said wolves just then, right?"

Everyone turned to look at him, some with sympathy and some with impatience.

"Tell me you said wolves!"

Nobody answered and Alex suddenly felt an overwhelming need to close his eyes and put his head between this knees.

* * *

The bluff was well prepared for them. Human-elves were acting as attendants, pointing people to the decorated coffee cart set up and helping to corral the dozens of little kids so that none of them jumped over the barrier set up and ran off of the edge before their parents were aware it was there. Below, the world, or the resort at least, was a twinkling mass of multi-coloured Christmas lights. It looked beautiful, for anyone who was in the mood for beauty.

Buffy stood apart from the chaos, past the flimsy rope barricade and closer to the edge of the drop than people were encouraged to go. It was a ski hub too by the looks of it. She was standing just to the left of the rising wires of the ski lift, silent and unoccupied now that it was dark. She wondered whether her woolly gloves would withstand rappelling down them. She could be back at the resort level and heading for their cabin pretty quick if they could. She'd have to take time to pack, of course – dammit, Faith had had the right idea not unpacking – but in next to no time Buffy could be in a cab and on her way home.

It was a long way down though and plus there was that whole thing about children being eaten.

The coffee cart was doubling as a hot dog stand and Buffy could smell them from where she stood. She should probably be feeling hungry by now but she was too . . . Angry? Upset? Headspun? . . . definitely one or more of those. She hadn't wanted to come here in the first place, she'd known it was a bad idea, but she'd still held out the hope that once they were here the happy couplely-ness of the place would somehow work wonders on her own love life. It just went to prove she was wrong almost as much as she was right. Although judging by her track record with Faith, maybe she was just wrong . . . a lot.

Buffy's nose wrinkled as the smell of hot dogs became stronger. A moment later Faith stopped beside her.

"Want a bite?"

"No thanks."

"Just take this then."

Buffy glanced to the side to see a cup of steaming coffee being offered. She took it because she was cold right down to her toes but her thanks was barely lukewarm.

"So you made a decision yet?"

"About what, Faith?"

"About us. About whether you're ever going to let me off the hook for the past."

Buffy stared down at the twinkling lights of the resort. "Why should I?"

"Because you want us to work." Faith sounded surprisingly calm.

Buffy turned to her. "No, I mean, why _should_I? What have you done to make up for it?"

"I went to prison, B!"

"For a couple of years and then you broke out!"

"Hey, I broke out because I was needed, and I stayed out because _you _needed me. And then I went back! I was prepared to do another twenty five years but I got out fair and square. What the hell else do you want from me?"

Buffy shook her head, "I don't know."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do? You didn't want me to go back in the first place, remember?"

"You did the right thing."

"I know I freakin' did. So what's your problem now? If this is still about me not coming back right away . . . what more can I tell you? I had issues, I fucked up, I'm the first to admit it. If you're going to hold it against me forever I don't know what to . . ."

"It's not about that!" Buffy was having trouble keeping her voice down.

She was past worrying about what anyone else thought, she knew she'd blown their cover in the sleigh, if not hours earlier, but she really didn't want to argue with Faith anymore. She was so sick of it. She'd argued with partners before, she'd argued with Angel and Riley a lot, but at least they'd had some good to counteract the bad. The last good time she could remember with Faith had been that morning, when they'd been in bed together, but even that had gone horribly wrong just a few minutes after going right. Even her relationship with Spike, such as it was, had more high points than she could remember with Faith and why the hell was that? She loved this woman, so why couldn't she stop hating her at the same time?

"Then what is it about?" Faith asked.

Buffy kicked at the snow around her feet. "I made a mistake."

"About us?"

She couldn't answer so she shrugged.

"B?"

"I don't know how much you've changed."

Faith took a step back and was silent for a minute. "I've changed!"

"You're still hurting me."

"What?" Faith shook her head. "I'm not trying to anymore!"

"But you did, once, try to, and maybe you just can't stop."

"That's crap, I stopped! I was screwed up then, I'm fine now."

"If the last few months is you being fine . . ."

"No, shut the hell up, B! I changed, if you can't see that . . ."

"I see that you've changed, Faith, I just don't know if that's enough."

"Then fuckin' screw you!"

"'Cause that helps," Buffy said sarcastically.

"I'm through trying to help you. I'm through trying to help _us_! If you think I'm gonna be bad for the rest of my life, why should I care what you have to say about it? I can just go ahead and be an evil bitch, right?"

Buffy sighed, shaking her head. "I don't think you're evil."

"Just not good enough for you? Fine. But ya know what? I'd rather be me than you! I may struggle with my conscience from time to time but at least I do it honestly, I'm not a hypocrite!"

"How am I a hypocrite?" Buffy asked angrily.

"You've done what I've done. You've screwed people you shouldn't, you've been reckless with peoples emotions, and lives, and you've been responsible for innocent people dying!"

"I've never stabbed anyone to murder them!"

Faith eyed her silently, nodding slightly, and then said, "So you just stabbed me for the bonding experience then?"

Buffy took a step back, feeling sick. They'd never talked about it, not since they'd been together anyway. Buffy had hoped they would never have to, even though she'd always known it would come up one day. Apparently today was the day.

"I never meant to . . ." Her voice dried up, but before she could clear her throat and try again Faith was speaking.

"But you did it anyway. You stabbed me, right in the gut. So tell me again which of us is the evil one?"

Buffy was shaking and it had nothing to do with the cold. "You deserved it."

Faith hesitated, "Maybe I did, but that don't excuse . . ."

"You deserved it!" Buffy said again strongly.

* * *

"Oh you deserve it. It is truly your reward. You have been a good girl." Felara said, ushering a six year old onto the old-fashioned, slightly battered sleigh.

This sleigh had set down two hundred feet from the other brightly lit sleighs. It was deep in the forest and nobody over the age of ten seemed to realise it was there.

A few feet away from Felara, Kendalar was encouraging another child. "Santa is very much looking forward to meeting you."

On the other side of the sleigh, Raska was having a little more trouble. "But he has many gifts for you."

"I want my Mommy!"

"You Mommy is waiting with Santa," Raska tried.

"I want my Mommy now!"

Raska looked torn for a moment and then picked the kid up and threw him onto the sleigh where another elf easily restrained him. Raska looked around, making sure there were no witnesses and then hurried over to Innoki.

"Not all of the children are coming willingly."

Innoki nodded, "It is always the same." He didn't look happy about it. "Just get what you can. We must go soon."

* * *

_Tbc . . ._

_Thanks for reading. Mor . . . no, wait, forget I nearly said that ;)_


	18. Act 3:10

Hey there. Thanks for the comments and feedback on the last chapter, always appreciated. I know having to sit through other people's arguments can be frustrating and as an outsider you just want to bang their heads together . . . but give them some time, Buffy and Faith do have some pretty big issues to work through after all ;)

* * *

"You deserved it! You forced your way into my life and then you screwed me over again and again. Actually, no, you didn't just force your way into my life, you tried to _take _my life. My friends, my family, my _boyfriend_! They were all fair game to you. And then when they wouldn't fall for your act you tried to destroy them instead – 'cause if you couldn't have it, I couldn't have it either? Was that it?"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you made a big mistake and then turned around and told Giles I was to blame."

"Oh don't get all high and mighty; you were on your way to tell him _I_ did it at the exact same time."

"You did do it!"

"We were both in the alley!"

"Yeah, but I'm the only one who tried to deal with it."

"What are you talking about? _I'm_ the one who dealt with it."

"You dumped the body, Faith," Buffy said slowly, as horrified by the memory now as she had been the afternoon Faith had told her. "That's not the kind of dealing I was talking about!"

"Well, it was the only kind of dealing I knew back then. Sorry it didn't measure up to your standards."

"_My_ standards? Try everyone's standards, unless, I don't know, you work for the mob or are just plain . . ." she stopped talking.

She'd probably already said too much but she stopped talking anyway. It was a futile gesture. Faith plucked the hanging word from the air and threw it at her.

"Evil?"

"I was going to say stupid."

"You were going to say evil! You think I killed that guy deliberately? Or that I enjoyed doing it?

"No . . . not _that_ guy."

Faith took a threatening step closer and Buffy held her ground. People were glancing over to them from time to time but it was windy up on the bluff and it whipped their words away over the snowy cliff, leaving the crowd aware only of their gesturing and angry postures.

* * *

"Hurry, now, hurry!" Innoki called, looking anxiously behind him to the oblivious adults as he ushered the last of the children onto the sleigh. "No time to waste. Santa wishes to meet you all very quickly."

The majority of the children were cheering and laughing with excitement. The ones who cried or tried to scream for their parents were swiftly subdued by his crew. All but one small girl, who bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth and slipped from Hyorgo's grasp, and with tears streaming down her face ran back towards the crowded cliff edge as fast as her little legs could take her through the trampled snow.

Cursing in Elvish, Innoki chased after her. If she sounded the alarm _he_ would be the one to not live past sunrise.

* * *

"No one ever expected you to face it alone. I tried to help you. _They_ tried to help you. So, sure, you weren't a bad person, you just tried to put it all on me 'cause you had this little psychotic inferiority complex. But how did you rationalise blaming _them_? How did Xander almost get strangled? Why did Willow almost get her throat cut?"

"What does it matter now? _They've_ forgiven me."

"They weren't to blame for you almost killing them . . . I was! I wanted you to stick around Sunnydale, I was the one spending all my free time with you, _I_ was the one that insisted you were worth saving even though you were doing everything to suggest otherwise. If you had killed one of them it would have been on me, Faith, _me_! I wanted you around and it put them in danger."

"And you think I'm still so bad and evil they're in danger all over again? Thanks a bunch, B! You couldn't come to that conclusion before you fucked me in Angel's hotel? Before you came to the prison and begged me to come here and be with you? You know what I think? You don't care about me being dangerous. You loved the fact that I was. Every dude you've been with has had a dark side. You dig evil! That's why you don't want me anymore, because I'm not! You thought you were getting some evil, fucked up bitch who would feed that kink of yours and I turned out to be a big disappointment."

"That's not even . . ." The wind caught snatches of shouting to Buffy's ears and she glanced briefly at the crowd. ". . . close to it. Sane is good. But since you came back you've been . . ."

The shouting came again and they both looked over this time.

"I've been what I had to be to keep my parole officer happy. And what I thought you _wanted_ me to be. But, hell, if I'd known what you really wanted I'd have offed a couple of the newbies when I strolled into town, cut a few of your friends for fun and then forced my way into your bed every night . . ."

Buffy's punch landed on her mouth, turning her words into a primal yell as she shook off the stinging pain and surged forward to land her own blow to the gut. Their feet sank into the snow, slowing them down and forcing them to fight in close quarters. Buffy jabbed at Faith's chin and she retaliated with an elbow smashing into Buffy's cheek, hard enough to hurt them both. Buffy grabbed the collar of her denim jacket, trying to force Faith down lower so that she could bring a knee up into her ribs, but Faith pushed back. They tripped in the shin-deep trench they'd made in the snow and slipped and staggered closer to the edge of the bluff.

"I didn't fall in love with you because you were bad, I fell in love with you because I thought I saw some tiny glimmer of good in you," Buffy ground out as they grappled for the upper hand: physically and morally.

"You didn't fall in love _with_ me! You fell in love with the idea of having a pitbull on a short leash, but I ain't nobody's bitch, B. You want a dog, think you'll find Spike's a better name for it than Faith."

"Don't you dare bring him into this."

"Oops, just did. Does that make me evil? Hey, bet you wanna fuck me now, right?"

With a yell that was twice as animalistic as Faith's had been, Buffy hauled off and punched her right on the nose. Faith felt it break with a short flare of agony that radiated out across her face and into her brain. By the time the hot blood was gushing from her nostrils it was already nothing more than a dull ache but she came at Buffy in a fierce temper anyway, both hands closing around her throat, forcing her backwards until they were both dangerously close to falling right off the edge of the mountain.

A child's scream – high-pitched and terrified – rushed their way on the wind and tore through their rage. They stopped as quickly as if a pause button had been pressed – Faith's hands still around Buffy's neck, Buffy with one hand around Faith's wrist, trying to loosen its grip while her other hand was clenched in the collar of Faith's jacket – and looked towards the frightened cry. It came from the beyond the crowd, closer to the edge of the forest, but it was immediately clear that something was amiss with the crowd itself too.

To start with they seemed to already be in a state of panic that the solitary scream couldn't account for, but also, in the next second, both slayers realised what else was wrong.

"I can only see," Buffy was re-counting to be sure, "like, four kids over there."

"There were two dozen of them charging around when I bought the cocoa. Escaping them for five minutes was the only reason I came over to you."

The jibe went uncontested, in fact Faith was barely aware she'd made it, because as soon as realisation sunk in they released each other to jump the rope barrier and run back into the midst of the reindeer ride gathering, Faith leaving dots of nose blood dyeing the snow red in her wake.

"What happened?" Buffy shouted as people turned hopefully to their rushed entrance.

"The kids have wandered off," one man said, sounding more irritated than distressed.

A woman by his side was more concerned. "I heard people in the resort say there were wolves in the woods."

An human elf was calling for calm, although he wasn't doing a good job of leading by example. "Nobody panic. I'm sure they're just playing a game. Hide and seek in the trees."

"I heard a scream, I'm sure it was Suzie," a woman wailed. "Please, we have to find them."

"They've only been gone five minutes," another woman tried to reassure her. "I'm sure they're all fine."

"They're probably trying to find Santa's Grotto," said someone else. "Grant's been exploring for it all afternoon at the resort."

"The Grotto's down there!" A man pointed to a set of red and green lights glowing brightly near the base of the small, steep mountain.

"What if they fell off the edge?"

"Nobody fell off the edge," Buffy promised. "We were right there."

Faith dropped to knees in front of one of the remaining kids. "Did you see where they went?" She had asked calmly, so as not to frighten him, but he screamed in horror anyway and turned his face into his dad's knees. Faith jumped back to her feet in alarm. "What the hell?"

"Your face is covered in blood!" the Dad said, stepping away and dragging his son with him.

"Shit!" Faith ran her sleeve over her nose and mouth, wincing as it made her nose sting like the bitch that had caused it.

Tim came running up, not bothered by the blood, or too panicked to notice it. "Olly's missing too. He's been gone more than ten minutes. We thought he followed you."

"And you were okay with that?" she yelled, not caring that Tim was distraught enough. "You didn't think to check?"

"Faith, shut up!"

"No, B, this idiot . . ."

"Shut up!" Buffy said again. "Everyone shut up!"

She was listening hard so Faith did the same. As the wind gusted towards them she heard it: a faint mix of crying, laughing and whispered instructions in a language she didn't understand coming from the edge of the forest. The darkness in that direction was absolute because of the trees and the bright lights around the bluff but there was definitely something going on over there. With one glance at Buffy they were both running towards the barely audible commotion.

"We don't have any weapons," Buffy reminded her.

"The elves are two feet high – how many weapons do you think we'll need?"

"If there's a hundred of them, maybe more than none."

They came upon the elves before they could get into an argument about it and both stopped short when they did. There weren't a hundred of them, only about twelve but that wasn't what made them stop. The elves were on a sleigh, but nothing like the ones they had rode here on. It somehow looked much more real . . . and definitely way more airborne.

"Huh."

"I'll take your 'huh'," Buffy began, "and raise it to a 'whoa'!"

There were kids on the sleigh, twenty or more of them, most oohing and ahhing at the flying reindeer while a few were screaming their heads off in abject fear. Faith wasn't sure whether to call them the pussies or the sensible ones. She'd definitely have been loving this at their age, but then that didn't say a lot for how smart they were.

"Give me a leg up!" Buffy called and before Faith could question it the blonde was already running towards her.

Letting Slayer synchronicity take over, Faith went into a crouch and cupped her hands in front of her. As soon as Buffy's foot stepped into her slingshot Faith used the power in her legs to spring back up and the strength in her arms to launch Buffy straight up into the sky.

A second earlier and Buffy would have landed comfortably in the sleigh.

Instead she missed it by six inches but managed to grab hold of the back-board, the old, splintery wood biting painfully at her fingers. An elf at the rear of the sleigh brought a short but sturdy branch down on her knuckles. That hurt even more and she lost her grip with that hand. Hanging by only one now she twisted her body around, trying to get her feet on one of the runners, but the elf repeated his earlier success and suddenly she was falling.

With a surprised, pained and worried yell – the sleigh was pretty high off of the ground now! – she managed through sheer force of will to clutch the very end of the runner in her throbbing fingers. She hung there for a second, pleased that she was out of range of the elf's branch, but she wasn't doing any good just hanging there!

After a few seconds of getting her breath back Buffy went hand over hand until she was in the middle of the runner. She was slowing the sleigh down and her added weight had made it dip a little and rock from side to side. She couldn't see it but the reindeer were having difficulty now. They relied on momentum to get up in the air and she was putting a definite crimp in it. Climbing up the sleigh would be a good move, if she could get her feet onto the runner she could boost up over the side, but dangling as she was and with the sleigh still moving and with a couple of elves looking down on her ready to play whack-a-mole it just wasn't happening.

"Faith, my feet!"

Faith didn't have to ask what she meant and ran and jumped immediately. She fell short by a few inches, the deep snow throwing her off as it sank under her boots, but she piled on the power on her second attempt and Buffy felt fingers grip tightly at her ankles before the sudden weight of Faith nearly dragged her arms from their sockets.

The sleigh rolled to the side with their combined effort but not quite enough. Faith pulled herself up by Buffy's ankles, pulling her knees up at the same time, and then abruptly dropped all of her weight back down.

On the third attempt – and surely just one attempt before Buffy's arms parted ways with her shoulders permanently – it worked!

The sleigh tipped onto its side, dumping kids and elves into the snow and tangling the traces enough that the reindeers were screwed, dropping out of the sky to crash into the ground. Their forward motion created a great furrow in the snow that ended only yards from the top of the ski slope.

As soon as Buffy and Faith landed in the snow they were up on their feet again. All of the kids were crying now and while Buffy called to them, gathering them into a group and doing her best to reassure them, Faith punched out every elf within reach. Many of them ran away before she could get to them, heading down the ski slope.

"You got all the kids?"

"Yeah." Buffy did a head count, which was useless because she didn't know how high she was supposed to count to, but she couldn't see any more floundering in the deep snow. "Yeah, I think so."

Faith let the escaping elves go. They could deal with them later. It was more important to get the crying kids back to their parents.

"Okay, let's go." As she took her share of kids to shepherd back to the bluff one of them turned and punched her in the stomach. "Hey, ow!"

"You stopped us from meeting Santa!" the little girl complained, trying to punch her again.

"Think we got a future little slayer on our hands, B," Faith laughed, the adrenaline rush giving way to the usual euphoria felt after a successful slay – or de-sleighing in this case. She picked the six year old up by the back of her oversized snowsuit and ignored the way her fists and feet still tried to connect with her.

Buffy gave her a quick smile and then led the way back to the anxiously waiting parents.

* * *

Kennedy opened the door to her bedroom to find Willow still hunched over her laptop. Willow didn't even look up at her entrance, obviously deeply involved in her research.

"Is everything okay? I thought you'd be done by now."

Willow looked back in surprise at her voice and then turned on the seat to smile at her. "Turns out there's a lot more to elves than meets the eye."

"Really?" Kennedy came deeper into the room, dropped her bag beside the bed and came to stand next to Willow.

"Yes and no, well, not really. I'm having to go on myth and fantasy."

"Isn't that what we usually do?" Kennedy dropped a kiss on to Willow's lips.

Willow moved over on the rectangular stool to give her room to sit down. "Yes, but usually we have Giles' books to back up it up."

Kennedy took the offered space, her arm loosely looping around Willow's waist. "And he has no books about elves?"

"Not specifically. What he has found says they're a benign race."

"And that's bad?"

"No, but not particularly useful when Buffy is sure they're eating children." Willow scrolled another unhelpful page and then turned her attention away from it. "So, was the shelter fun?"

Kennedy raised an eyebrow. "You've never been to a homeless shelter have you?"

"No, but . . . I always meant to go."

Kennedy kissed her cheek. "Not fun, but it's good to do good. Not that I did much, I didn't ladle out soup or anything, just dropped off a package."

Willow nodded and then her eyes drifted back to the screen.

"So did you check out my Mom's email account?"

Willow turned back to her. "No, I thought you were joking about that."

Kennedy laughed. "You've met my Mom; do you think she's anything to joke about?"

"Aww, she's not so bad," Willow grinned. "She just wants you to be happy."

"If that was true she'd keep her nose out of our relationship."

"I wish my Mom had asked about our relationship at least once," Willow countered.

Kennedy thought for a while before answering, filling the pause by stroking Willow's long hair over her shoulder, teasing her fingers through it and loving the way the soft strands drifted like red silk over her skin. She knew next to nothing about Willow's parents and all she did know wasn't particularly good.

"Do they even know I exist?"

"Um."

"Will?"

"I told my Mom I was seeing someone."

"When?"

"A while ago. Over the summer. I think we were in Oklahoma at the time. She said, "That's nice, dear," and then asked if I'd packed enough socks for my 'fun little road trip'. She's not big on sentiment."

Kennedy had kept her parents in the dark deliberately about where she had been because of where she _had_ been, but Willow's parents had _lived there_. How could they be so casual about Willow's 'fun little road trip'? She didn't ask though. If Willow wasn't bothered by it she didn't want to give her a reason to be. Buffy and Xander's parental dramas were more than enough. Not to mention her own!

"Do you think they'll ever want to meet me?"

"Sure, but probably only on our wedding day . . ." Willow joked but then her grin turned a little uncertain; Kennedy's probably matched it. ". . . so, um, not for a while."

"No."

They sat in silence for a moment and Kennedy knew she had to do something to break that train of thought. She looked around, as if noticing something for the first time.

"Hey, we seem to be alone in my room."

Willow's grin gained strength again. "And right by your bed."

"We should take advantage of it."

"Thought you'd never ask."

Kennedy stood and offered her hand. Willow took it eagerly and together they moved over to the bed. They kissed for only a moment or two beside it before Kennedy hopped onto the mattress and tugged Willow after her. Laying down together, soon

Kennedy was being kissed with all the passion she'd missed out on the night before. Her skin tingled with delicious heat as Willow's hands slid up under her t-shirt. Needing to feel more of them she sat up, earning a sad noise from Willow. It was soon replaced by happy noises as she pulled her t-shirt off, throwing it to the side before rolling on top of Willow and hitting her with another deep kiss.

This just couldn't get any better! Except it did with every time Willow's hands stroked lovingly down the bare skin of her back and with every dip of Willow's tongue into her mouth.

Willow was pushing up against her and pulling at Kennedy's hand to encourage it between them when the bedroom door opened.

Pissed off, Kennedy dragged her mouth reluctantly from Willow's to snap: "Learn to knock!"

Expecting it to be Roxanne who had barged in on them, she was surprised to see her Mom standing there. She moved quickly off of Willow instinctively and looked around for her t-shirt.

"My point still stands," she groused as she found it and pulled it on.

"I did knock at your outer door. Obviously you didn't hear me. Perhaps if you had been paying more attention." Her Mom didn't look happy. "Sorry to interrupt Willow, but Kennedy's father would like a word with her."

"No apology necessary!" Willow squeaked. She had already pushed herself up against the pillows and drawn her knees up to her chest. "It's fine."

"It's not fine. I can't believe you brought him into this."

"I do not know what you are talking about." Her Mom came further into her bedroom and obviously planned on standing there for as long as it took. When Kennedy didn't move she nodded back impatiently at the doorway. "He is in his study."

"I'll speak to him later. I only just got back from your last errand. It would be rude to leave Willow on her own for any longer."

"Who said anything about Willow being on her own?" With a broad smile Rosie perched on the end of the bed. "I will stay and keep her company."

Kennedy laughed, "I don't think so."

"Kennedy, I am your mother, why are you scared of letting me get to know your girlfriend?"

"History?"

"But you and Willow are oh so serious. You are already living together. Surely nothing _I_ can say would put that in jeopardy? You love my daughter far too much to let me scare you off, right Willow?"

Willow's smile looked like a grimace of pain. "Uh huh."

Kennedy was mouthing 'I'm sorry' over and over to her until her Mom turned back and she quickly straightened out her face. Rosie smiled reassuringly and patted her leg.

"See, everything is fine. Go now; he is waiting."

Reluctantly Kennedy rolled off of the bed, turning once to return Willow's brave smile before going through the door.

* * *

They were hailed as heroes when they emerged enmasse from the trees, although not really once Buffy explained that the kids had just gotten lost in the woods while hunting for elves. Some of the parents blamed themselves, some blamed other parents, but everyone was happy to see their little ones returned.

Faith and Buffy shared a look. It wasn't one of mutual praise, nor was it one of seasoned slayers who knew they still had a job to do. It was one of bitterness and fear; a look that reminded them they had been in the middle of something before the emergency, a something that wasn't going to go away just because they'd saved the day. It was a something they had to deal with, even though neither of them wanted to even think about it.

Before they could come to blows again right then and there in the middle of the people still thanking them and laughing cheerily because they'd never know how much danger their kids had really been in, Faith felt a hand on her shoulder.

She twisted towards it, a fist raised because the mix of exhilaration and anger had her on edge, and found Jan and Tim waiting expectantly.

Jan smiled at Buffy, "Where'd you hide Olly?"

"What?" Buffy asked, looking from Jan to Faith.

"It's okay. We knew he'd want to stick with his new favourite people. Tim and I were just saying we should make you his Fairy Godparents," Jan said, chuckling.

"Gotcha!" Tim sprang around the back of Faith as if expecting to find his son there.

Faith was struck dumb for a minute, but Buffy tried, "Uh guys . . ."

Tim came out from behind Faith, still smiling. "Is he off playing already? Typical boy, huh," he added with pride in his voice.

Faith looked at Buffy. "Did you see . . .?" she murmured.

Buffy shook her head. "I didn't notice."

They both took a look around at the crowd. Most of the kids had recovered from the ordeal enough to start running around again but they couldn't see Olly among them. They didn't even have to look at each other this time before both running for the trees again.

"Where are you going?" called Jan. "Where's Oliver?"

Buffy thought about turning around and explaining; she couldn't imagine what might be going through Jan and Tim's minds right now. She faltered, slowed and half turned and then Faith grabbed her arm and forced her back on mission.

"You're not a hand-holder, B, you're a slayer."

"I know that, but it's their kid!"

"And every second you waste explaining shit to them is another second their kid could be getting eaten!"

Faith was right. Buffy put her head down and ran.

They reached the battered and fallen sleigh to find no elves and no kids. The reindeer were still there, they were back on their feet but still tethered to the sleigh. Buffy and Faith ignored them, calling out for Olly instead. They received no answer and a quick search of the area didn't turn him up unconscious or worse.

"The bastards took him!" Faith yelled.

Buffy agreed. "They must have gone down the slope."

They both took a moment to stare at it. It was a long and steep. From the elf prints they could see the snow was deep too.

"It's gonna take us forever to run down that," Buffy realised. She was ready to start though when Faith caught her arm again. "What?"

Faith pointed to the shack a little further up the slope. Set back in the trees, Buffy hadn't even noticed it in the dark but now she saw what it was. It wasn't a ski-hire place like the one right out on the bluff but it was plainly obvious from the goggles and ski poles outside that it was a ski storage shed.

Faith broke the lock with one kick. "You ever done this before?"

"Once, when I was younger. I sucked at it."

"Good to know I won't be the only one." Faith was pulling at the long and short skis inside, making them clatter to the floor in her haste. "Do these things go by shoe sizes?"

"I don't know and I don't think we have time to care."

"Fair point." Faith thrust a couple of the skis at Buffy, which were at least equal in length, and then grabbed a pair for herself.

They fastened them on outside, both cursing because they didn't know what they were doing, and then Buffy passed a couple of ski poles to Faith before choosing her own. Barely three minutes had passed since Faith had busted into the shack but it felt like an hour.

"You good?" Buffy asked urgently as she awkwardly walked back to the slope.

"Too good for you apparently," Faith said as she did the same.

"Does now really seem like the time?" Buffy objected.

"Do _you_ really think there's ever a good time for someone to kick your ass to the curb?" Faith asked rhetorically and then used her poles to push off of the top of the slope. "Let's go."

* * *

_Tbc . . . _


	19. Act 3:11

Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

Since becoming the Slayer Buffy could master most physical activities on the first try. Whether it involved running, jumping, swimming or climbing, the skills just seemed to be there when she needed them. Skiing didn't seem to involve any of those skills and she wasn't mastering it so well.

Going in a straight line was okay; her superior balance made that easy enough and even the first few gentle curves hadn't posed much of a problem, she'd just leaned slightly one way and then the other. It had gotten harder after that with sharp twists and narrow gullies to steer through at high speed thanks to the steep slope of the mountain. It might have made her feel better if she'd known she was on the black diamond run, the hardest slope in the area, and that as a beginner she was just lucky to not have killed herself on it yet, but she didn't know and it was just pissing her off that Faith was whooping and hollering like she was having the best time ever while Buffy had to keep fighting the urge to close her eyes and pray.

She'd let Faith go in front, deciding it best to follow her lead rather than try and navigate the way herself. That way, if they came to a sudden drop or a wall of rock, Faith would die first and Buffy would hopefully have time to put the brakes on before she suffered the same fate. It wasn't very charitable of her, but then the things coming out of Faith's mouth weren't very considerate either.

"I ain't dumping ya, B, and I ain't gonna cheat on you either."

The words flew back to her on Faith's slipstream; burning as much as the freezing wind that battered her face and stung her eyes. Now she knew why people who skied always wore their jackets zipped up to their noses and those silly goggles. Buffy's snow suit was built for skiing but she hadn't been prepared for it and the jacket was only zipped up as far as her chest.

"I ain't giving it to you on a plate. You want rid of me you're gonna have to stand up and do it."

"You think I won't?" Buffy called out. "Do you honestly think I'm so desperate that I'd put up with you for any longer?"

"I think you're desperate not to have anyone know you're the one that failed in this relationship. I almost don't blame you. I mean, in a relationship that includes _me_ it's gotta suck hard to know _you_ were the problem all along."

"I didn't fail! You can't fail at something that you never stood a chance with in the first place."

"You stood a chance, B. You stood every chance. I put up with beatings every other day for a month to make sure you had that chance. I got paroled to give you a chance. I travelled across the continent on fifty bucks, even though every ounce of me told me I should be running in the other direction, to give you that chance. And I've been putting up with you running hot and then cold and then colder for three months just waiting for you to _take_ that chance. But you can't do it, can you?"

Buffy was silent, partly because she'd only missed skiing into a jagged rocky outcrop by three inches and was still trying to remember how to breathe again and partly because she was digesting everything Faith had just said.

"You keep telling me how I don't know what being in a relationship is all about but now I know it's you who _can't _be in a relationship. You just don't have it in you. Now I get why a smokin' chick like you was single for so long. I used to buy into that whole self-pitying crap about how you just had bad luck with guys. Hell I used to think Angel was a prize idiot for walking away from something so good. Now I think the dude should get a medal for sticking it out so fuckin' long!"

"And I'm starting to think you picked up the motto 'Get some, get gone' from all the boys who must have said it to you, 'cause God knows it's what I should have done!"

"Yeah, well, screw . . . Whoa!"

Buffy's worst fear of the last ten minutes was coming true. They'd hit a drop and Faith was airborne! Buffy didn't have time to stop – she didn't know how to stop! – and seconds later she took off too.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

The slope continued ten feet away and it turned out jumping was a required skill after all. She didn't know if it was the right thing to do but Buffy pulled her knees up and tucked her elbows in, canonballing through the air. Ahead of her Faith was flailing her arms and legs, the total surprise of the jump stealing her wits for precious seconds, so that when she landed it was less than graceful.

She crashed into the snow, face first and with a sharply cut off yell of pain. Right behind her Buffy landed smoothly, still in a crouch, but concern for Faith outweighed her pride at the successful landing. She stuck her poles into the snow and dropped back onto her butt, not knowing any other way to slow down. She stopped sliding down the slope about ten feet below Faith and after looking anxiously to the base of the mountain – they were wasting time here – she turned back to look up at Faith.

"You okay?"

Faith had already moved into a sitting position and was using one hand to refasten the straps on her skis. "I'm fine."

"That'll go faster with two hands."

"Only got one right now." Faith grunted as she used a ski to hold her opposite foot steady while she hauled on the strap.

"You cut off your hand!" Buffy got gingerly to her skis expecting to see a pool of blood forming in the snow around Faith. Faith gave her an incredulous look. It didn't sound that far-fetched; she'd seen someone lose three fingers in an ice-skating collision once. Faith still had both hands, and all of her fingers. "Did you break it?"

"Dislocated my shoulder. I'm fine." Faith pushed herself up with one ski pole, leaving the other in the snow. "Come on, we're wasting time."

Faith tried to push off with the one pole but her skis didn't cooperate and she nearly slipped over again.

"And you skiing in circles is going to save us time?" Buffy said sarcastically as she awkwardly walked back up to her. "Let me help you." She stopped in front of Faith. "Uh, how do you want to do this?"

Faith's look was scathingly weary of her this time. She placed Buffy's hands where she wanted them and then set her injured arm against Buffy's shoulder. "Like you could ever help me." With a grunt she thrust forwards and there was a loud smacking sound as the joint popped back into the socket.

"It's all I ever wanted to do," Buffy promised, although her tone wasn't exactly friendly.

"The only thing you've ever been good for, Twinkie, is bumping up against," Faith sneered and bent down to pick up her other pole.

Buffy stepped back, hurt and angry all over again. "Okay, I give. I've had enough. We're done, Faith. Soon as this is over I never want to see you again." She turned around so that her skis were pointing in the right direction. "And if you want to tell everyone it's all my fault, go right ahead. I'm pretty sure they'll never believe you anyway."

"Thought you loved me?" Faith asked mockingly.

"I thought I did, but obviously you really are completely unloveable."

That was her last word on the subject. Buffy shut down emotionally, channelling her distress in a way it could actually help. It didn't matter that her heart was silently breaking; there was a child in danger and she had a job to do.

Jabbing her poles into the snow, she pushed off fast, leaving Faith to eat her snowflakes.

* * *

"So, Old Ones." Vi was in Andrew's usual place beside the white board. "This is what we know." She read what she'd already written down. "They're old. There's more than one." She capped her black marker with a sigh. "Is it bed time yet?"

It was dark outside already but barely past five. Dawn was getting worried, not only by the lack of information they were coming up with, but also because Giles and Xander weren't back yet and apparently Buffy had promised to call in this afternoon and hadn't yet.

"We know more than that," Reece said tiredly. "Like how it isn't an Old One eating the children, but elves."

"But elves are good," Naomi said. "You know that as well as I."

"We've been at this twelve hours!" Alison griped. "Why can't we just admit we're not as good at this as the Watchers?"

"We are the Watchers." Reece irritably flicked a finger between himself and Naomi.

"I was talking about Giles and Xander and Willow."

"Xander and Willow aren't Watchers," he snapped.

"Yet they're still better at this than you."

"Go easy on us, Ali," Naomi said, yawning. "Uncle Rubear, Mr. Harris and Miss Rosenberg have a lot more experience than we do and they still don't know what's really behind this either."

"What's really behind it," Dawn muttered. Then she turned and grabbed Reece's forearm where it was resting on the table. "What's really behind it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Dawn stood and took the marker from Vi before scribbling on the white board. "What's really behind it? If the elves are so good why are they being linked to the deaths?"

"Because your sister saw a lot of them at the resort."

"Are we sure they aren't just working there?" Vi asked. "Like the little guy at the mall?"

"Buffy apparently said they're not, but that the ones they saw were showing an unusual amount of interest in the children on the bus."

"So, maybe they serve another purpose." Dawn stepped to the side to show a hastily drawn flow chart on the board.

At the bottom was the word 'children', above that was 'army of elves'. Unfortunately above that was just a big question mark. There were several groans.

Miranda's was one of them. "That doesn't help."

"Yes it does," Dawn countered. "Now we can narrow our research down to what Old Ones might use an army of elves."

* * *

Out of everyone in their section of the hunt, Xander was the only who'd ever really had a conversation with a pixie and the job of deciphering what the little guy was saying had fallen to him. The only problem with that was he _usually_ relied on short sentences and a whole lot of miming and that just wasn't cutting it in a serious conversation about murderous elves.

"We need Willow here to do some kind of translation spell," he finally said in exasperation.

"Willow's in New York with Kennedy," Andrew reminded him.

"I know that!" He tried again, speaking slowly and clearly, "How do you kill elves?"

"Yow darn nivie quell ann eef," Josiah said, also speaking slowly but not so clearly.

Xander threw his hands up. "I give up. Let's head back. Alex looks like needs a stiff drink before he passes out anyway."

He was getting cold now that they had stopped walking and he was sick of standing in the dark lane. It wasn't like they were doing any good there. Besides, Giles still seemed to be watching him closely – like in case he was about to turn into a gibbering wreck and start running around with his underpants on his head – and the scrutiny was making him crazy. Although not underpants-on-the-head crazy . . . yet.

With nothing else to suggest, Giles agreed and Alex was past the point of being in charge. He kept shooting sharp glances from Josiah to him to Giles before staring blankly down at his feet for long periods of time. When the group started moving back towards the town he walked passively beside them; he was still holding his shotgun across his body but he looked less dangerous with it than he had done all day, and his finger was nowhere near the trigger. Xander had seen on TV that some people found comfort in carrying a gun, that's why so many little old ladies had them; right now Alex was treating his high-powered rifle like a teddy bear.

Craig and Andrew were still trying to get some sense out of Josiah, asking him shorter and shorter sentences in the hope that it would make his answers simpler.

"If the pixies planned on sending someone to help us," Robin began, "Why did they pick one who couldn't speak English?"

"It is English," Giles said.

"Not any English I've ever studied."

"It's a very old dialect; regional to the southwest of the British Isles. It shares some roots with Gaelic and Cornish I believe but evolved independently."

"Besides I think Beryan's the only one who speaks the good English," Xander said. "And I can't see her royal smallness coming all the way out here to us."

The lane they were following came out onto a larger road and, as they'd all lost their bearings during the long day of endless walking, when Alex turned west they followed.

The cop raised his radio to his mouth. "This is Alex. My party is heading back. The rest of you finish your sweeps and then head to the bar to report in." He didn't wait for replies before thumbing off the radio and fixing it back to his belt.

Xander glanced at him, wondering what he was really making of all this. He hadn't spoken to any of them for a while now, like as if he was trying to block them all out. Xander almost didn't blame him; although it wasn't their fault a pixie had shown up, or that the Alex's home town happened to have been built over a Hellmouth. He should be grateful they were there, to help him get through the initial freak out that came with learning that the supernatural was real. It would probably be a while before he got around to saying thank you though.

Something suddenly bolted out of the hedge towards him and Xander side-stepped in a panic, knocking into Giles before swinging around and raising his flashlight to illuminate his attacker. The discarded paper bag from the general store hesitated in the beam, shaking all over, before a gust of the strengthening wind blew it further into the road and Alex trampled it underfoot without realising.

While Robin, Craig and even Josiah chuckled, Giles gently asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Stop asking me that." Xander turned the flashlight back the way they were going.

"You do seem a little jumpy," Andrew pointed out.

"I'm not jumpy, I'm alert. Primed for action. Ready for anything."

"Like killer paper bags?" Craig asked.

"Anything means _anything_."

What he was mostly ready for was food. He hadn't had anything since the sandwiches Andrew had packed for lunch and his stomach was starting to think a Fyarl demon had torn out his throat. A hot shower would be great too because somehow he'd managed to be both sweaty and freezing for most of the day. His feet especially were starting to feel like two slabs of frozen meat, but not quite numb enough yet to dull the ache of nearly twelve hours of walking. Either the two pairs of thermal socks he was wearing weren't enough, or he'd walked right through them over the course of the day. He should have put on three pairs. And thirdly, he was ready to be sat in his spot on the couch in front of the television, with nothing to do for the rest of the evening but occasionally flick through the channels and raise his bottle of beer to his mouth.

It wouldn't be long now; they'd just walked past the first cottages that signalled they were right on the outskirts of the village. It was quiet even though it was still early. That wasn't unusual. Boudenver wasn't exactly known for its nightlife and it was too cold for anyone who didn't need to be out to want to be out, but Xander still found the quiet unnerving. It was probably because they were tramping along the road, all seven of them, making barely a sound because of the soft snow under their feet. He couldn't help wondering who else might be taking advantage of it and looked behind them several times until he caught Giles staring at him with that concerned psychiatrist look again.

Trying to ignore the feeling of unease, Xander calculated how much beer he had in the fridge, taking into account that tomorrow was a holiday and the store wouldn't be open. He should probably pick up another six pack just to be on the safe side. A sharp flapping sound broke the silence on his right and Xander's step faltered as he whipped his head around for a clear view of the . . . poster attached to the lamp pole on the edge of the road. The beam of his flashlight bounced off of Santa's jolly face.

Josiah started speaking excitedly as they walked on, his words coming out faster and even less intelligible as he wriggled in Craig's hand.

"Didn't think you fella's would be into Christmas," Craig said, grinning as the pixie tickled his palm.

"I thought they'd be pagans," Andrew said.

"Many of the traditions associated with Christmas began with pagan rituals," Giles was saying.

Xander was only half-listening; most of attention was still on looking around because the main street had undergone a transformation during the hours of daylight. Christmas lights had been strung up between the light poles and bunting fluttered above them too. Candy canes were hanging from the regular trees in people's gardens and tinsel was decking nearly every garden gate or wooden bench. On the small green opposite Barnies a rough wooden pen had been set up with a sign on the fence declaring it was for 'The Reindeers' although Xander couldn't see any in there. Other booths had been arranged along the edge of the road, all dark and empty at the moment but they promised to offer 'Cotton Candy', 'Snow cones' and 'Hotdogs' come fair day. Further down the road he could see that the Christmas tree that had been standing bare in the parking lot of The Mouth for a week was now decorated and more twinkling lights were wrapped around its branches. Beside it, silent and still, was a merry-go-round with an assortment of large plastic ducks, deers, bears and fire engines for children to ride on.

Josiah was still chattering, wriggling and pointing. Xander was doing a good job of blocking out the high pitched nonsense but it was getting on Alex's nerves.

"Can't you shut that thing up?"

"Prob'ly not without getting bitten," Craig was having enough trouble just trying to keep hold of him.

"Then just get rid of it. I'm gonna go for a coffee and then I have to get back to the bar. I don't think there's any point in you guys staying for the post-game wrap up," Alex added gruffly, "but thanks for your help."

"Actually, deputy," Giles began politely. "I still have rather a few questions about . . ."

"Mr. Giles, I have work to do; I don't have time for you right now . . ."

The general store was in sight, the only lot on the main street that didn't seem to be decorated, or at least not as extravagantly as everywhere else. A holly wreath hung on the door and some simple white fairy lights were lining the bottom of the plate glass window, highlighting the merchandise inside, but otherwise the store seemed to be abstaining from the universal merriment of the village. While Giles and Alex bickered, Xander made a beeline for it. He wasn't interested in hanging out at Barnies tonight anyway, not just to listen to the men discuss the failed hunt. He'd much rather be drinking alone, with a blazing fire on one side of him and the TV on the other. Maybe he'd get two six packs, just to be really safe. Actually if he was going to do that he might as well get a case of twenty-four because as much as he might want to be drinking alone he probably wasn't going to get that opportunity.

He was still working it out, factoring in how much Giles and Robin might consume - and wondering whether Reece, Andrew and Craig would just help themselves when he wasn't looking, and maybe he should get two cases just to be really, really, safe - when something ran out from under one of the booths. To his credit he barely jumped this time because he thought it was a cat, but he swung his flashlight around to it fast anyway.

It wasn't a cat! It wasn't a pixie either.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Hey, hey!"

Giles jumped to attention. "What is it, Xander?"

The thing had stopped running briefly at his shout but then took off again. Xander instinctively ran after it as it crossed the street and headed for the alley between the diner and the store.

"Elf!" he called as he ran.

"Wolf!" Alex brought his shotgun up and looked wildly around ahead of Xander to spot it.

"Elf!" Everyone else yelled impatiently as they chased after Xander.

His flashlight bobbed up and down but he did his best to keep it on the little creature. This alley was much wider than the rest and some light was shed into it from the window of The Mouth, but Xander knew if the elf reached the end of it he'd be out on open ground. Cursing that knowledge, he tried to run faster. He had a head start on everyone else and there was no slayer present to overtake him. If he didn't catch the thing it would get away.

And it was just about to, because even with all the training he'd done recently, the elf was much lighter on its feet, barely making a dent in the snow while Xander had to plough heavily through the deep drift between the buildings.

"Wait!" he yelled, seeing the thing about to outrun the beam of his flashlight, and then in a moment of stupidity he pulled back his hand holding the heavy flashlight and launched it at the creature.

It should have gone wide by a mile. He should have been left with no way of seeing where the little critter was running while it made its escape. He should have been left looking like a reckless idiot when everyone else caught up.

All of that should have happened, and Xander was already beating himself up in readiness, except the flashlight connected solidly with the back of the elf's head, sending it sprawling forwards into the snow.

"It's a Christmas miracle!"

Running to the end of the alley, he was just in time to grab the thing by the scruff of the neck as it groggily pushed itself to its knees.

"I said wait! Maybe you'll listen next time and save yourself the headache."

Hooking his fingers into the collar of its tunic, he lifted it up until they were at eye level. Despite looking terrified it gnashed its sharp teeth at him and Xander subtly gulped. On the spur of the moment he'd forgotten that they ate people. Sure, he was no child-size meal but still! He held it a little further away from him as everyone else caught up.

Alex was the least out of breath. "What is that?"

"An elf."

Alex looked from the pixie to the elf and took a big step back with his hands up. He didn't leave but he clearly didn't want to be the one asking questions anymore – or hearing any answers to the questions he might have.

"Right, well," Giles panted, "Well done, Xander. Now what?"

"I figure we interrogate it."

"Of course. Go ahead then."

"Me? I already did the hard work."

They all stared at the elf dangling from Xander's hand for a few moments.

It was Robin who finally cleared his throat. "Uh, are you planning to eat children at Snow Dunes?"

The elf seemed to understand him perfectly because he answered at once. Unfortunately he was even harder to interpret than the pixie because he wasn't speaking anything like English.

"Can you speak English?" Robin asked.

If he did, he didn't use it to answer.

Robin shook his head and tried, "Do you speak Spanish? Or French?"

The elf spoke again, but it wasn't in Spanish or French as far as Xander could tell.

"Maybe Josiah can understand him," Andrew said. "He could translate."

"And then who's going to translate Josiah?" Xander asked and everyone's shoulders slumped even further.

"This may be our only chance to help Buffy and Faith," Giles said.

Xander nodded, "Agreed, so it's time to call in the big guns."

Now Giles nodded, sighed and then took his cell phone out of his pocket. "She's not going to be very happy with the interruption."

* * *

_Tbc . . . Next part is the end of act three. We're getting somewhere! :)_


	20. Act 3:12

Hi! Sorry for the delay, I thought I'd posted this WEEKS ago & instead I just found it gathering dust in my 'ready to go' file. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, I love knowing you're still enjoying it :)

* * *

Willow sat at the head of the bed, against the pillows with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her arms were around her shins and she was hugging them tight but they weren't much comfort. She'd rather have a blanket to hide under. Kennedy had only been gone five minutes and while at first Willow hadn't been too worried about being left alone with Kennedy's mom . . . now she was doubting her first instinct.

Because Rosie was lovely, in a truly terrifying way!

"So you don't have to worry, Willow. I know what Kennedy thinks of me, but we're not trying to pressure her into anything, we want you girls to take things at your own pace, okay?"

"Okay."

Having a mostly absent and unintentionally indifferent mom of her own, meeting Joyce Summers for the first time had been a revelation. From the start Joyce had bestowed as much love as she had for her daughters on Willow too, welcoming her into Buffy's life with warm, motherly arms from their first meeting. In hindsight it had probably been because Joyce thought Willow was _safe _compared to the kids Buffy had been hanging out with at her previous school, but that had never mattered to Willow. Having a Mom around who asked about her day and stuff and actually listened to her answers – even if it wasn't her own Mom – had been a big deal.

Rosie was taking that to a whole new level!

"If you two want to have sex . . ." Willow groaned quietly but Rosie went on with a small smile. ". . . I don't want to have to stand in your way. Sex is good; it's life-affirming, and we want you to be happy and enjoy yourselves."

Willow was waiting for the but, desperately, but it wasn't coming yet.

"Sex is an important part of a serious, adult relationship. You're a few years older than Kennedy, yes?"

"A couple."

"Then you know what I'm talking about more than Kennedy does. For Kennedy sex is still a childish thrill. She does not understand the deeper meaning to it."

"Um, I think, yunno, with me she, uh, probably does," Willow said awkwardly, face burning.

"I hope so, Willow, I truly hope so." Rosie patted her foot. "Because . . ."

Beside her, Willow's cell phone began to ring. She glanced down in relief but it would be rude to answer it, right?

"Mrs . . ."

"Call me Rosie."

"Okay. I think you're wrong about Kennedy. She know's how important sex is. Honestly. She's the one that wanted to wait before we did it again, you know after we got back together." A dark, expensively sculpted eyebrow shot up and Willow backtracked hurriedly. "I mean we both wanted to wait. We're still waiting."

"That's very reassuring." Her phone hadn't stopped ringing yet. "If you need to answer that . . ."

"No, it's okay."

"It is just that Kennedy has been very frivilous with sex in the past. She always follows a part of her body that isn't her head," Rosie chuckled, "or her heart, if you know what I mean . . ."

Beyond mortified by the converstion now, Willow snatched her phone up after all. "Maybe I should just see who it is!"

It was Giles and he needed her there, wherever 'there' was.

"I can't right now," she told him, "I'm kinda busy."

Rosie, assuming she was about to hang up, continued, "She enjoys sex, there's nothing wrong with that. I enjoy sex. Her step-father and I have a very healthy sex life. Just last week we made love on the . . ."

"Okay, just give me a rough location!" Willow squeaked into the phone. To Rosie, she said, "Sorry, I need to use the bathroom. Please could you give me a minute? I'll be right back."

"Of course." As Willow walked through the suite, Rosie called out, "Kennedy's bathroom is just here."

Willow hesitated, looking between the closed door to the ensuite and the main exit. She couldn't do what she needed to do in there. Not with Rosie waiting right outside the door for her. "Um, I can't use that one."

Rosie laughed, "Why not?"

"I'm a . . . a nervous pee-er!"

Wincing in embarrassment, Willow bolted out onto the landing and after checking each way to make sure no one else was around she closed her eyes and concentrated. She hadn't done this in a while, at least not voluntarily, but the words she needed were like a muscle memory and a few moments later she disappeared.

* * *

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

They all spun around to see Willow standing behind them.

She gave them a wave and then held both hands up, smiling nervously. "Why is there a gun pointing at me?"

"How did she get here?" Alex demanded as he whipped the rifle out of her face and rounded on Andrew, "You said she was in New York."

Andrew shrank back against Craig, "She was, but you heard Mr. Giles just call her."

"Two seconds ago!" Alex looked around warily as if he was half-expecting to find a helecopter waiting back behind the town. Of course there wasn't one. He turned to Willow again, looking her up and down. "How did you get here?"

"Can we save the physics lesson for later? Only I'm kind of freezing and Kennedy's Mom thinks I just went to pee."

While Robin hastily removed his coat and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders Giles got down to business. "You might wish you had come up with a better excuse than that."

"Tell me about it," she groaned.

Xander cut to the chase, "We caught an elf." He gave the creature in his grip a little shake.

"And we'd like to interrogate it," Robin said, "but it apparently doesn't speak English."

Willow looked expectantly at Andrew, he just fidgeted on the spot. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't know basic Elvish!"

"There's no such thing as basic Elvish! I tried learning Quenya in eighth grade because my brother told me it was compulsory for high school, but it was really hard, so I concentrated on Klingon."

"Because that's going to turn out to be useful someday," Xander said in exasperation.

"Oh yeah, well . . ." Andrew puffed up his chest indignantly. "What other languages do you speak, Xander?"

"Hey, I happen to speak pig-latin fluently, I'll have you know!"

"And?"

Xander looked shifty, "Maybe a little Klingon. Look, I think we're getting off track here."

"You're telling me," Robin said.

"Actually, pig-latin and Klingon are the only two things about all of this that are making sense to me," Alex said.

"Okay, enough," Willow said over the top of him. "I need to get back sooner rather than later, and anyway, what makes you think I speak Elvish?"

"We didn't; we were hoping you spoke pixie better than us?" Craig held up the little purple being on his palm.

"Oh, hey," Willow waggled her fingers at him. "I didn't see you there."

He waved back. "Aloo."

"Josiah can understand the elf, but we can't understand him," Giles explained. "At least, not more than the occasional word."

"I don't speak pixie either, but I'll try." Willow held out her own hand and Craig let Josiah jump to it. "Okay, fella, what has it told you so far?"

"Iis caaled Rygorni, iis darnt aate baern. Iis scooten fer tha feer, meeken shar s'aal reedeh. Iis Mawther . . . eh? . . . leadeh es caaled Innoki, he tall Rygorni tow scoot, buu Rygorni nay aate baern hissen."

Willow listened to him intently and then looked up. "Yep, I don't speak pixie."

Giles sighed – everyone sighed, but Giles the loudest. "I hate to ask, Willow, but . . ."

"You want me to do a translation spell."

"Can you?"

Now Willow sighed. "I'm supposed to be on vacation. Recuperating even! But I guess so. It's not like we have any choice."

"But you don't have any ingredients here for a spell," Craig pointed out.

Willow smirked, feeling a little of her old cockiness return at the chance to show off in front of the boy. She'd pay for it later, but if she had to stand out here in the cold and do the spell anyway why shouldn't she get something out of it.

"You have so much to learn."

"Padawan," Andrew blurted. Willow raised an eyebrow at him, "Um. Padawan was the word you were looking for, right?"

"I wasn't looking for a word, I'd finished." She looked around, getting her bearings. It wasn't easy because she'd teleported into an alley but she recognised the parking lot of The Mouth at the other end of it. "Can you go and get me some coffee beans? Not grains, has to be beans. And a mug of boiling water. Oh, and see if they have any camomile – a camomile teabag will do at a push."

As Andrew nodded, Alex said, "Can you just grab me a coffee? White, two sugars. Anyone else?"

Xander laughed, "Al, Will isn't placing a drinks order."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind, I'll get both," Andrew said before running up the alley.

"Then what does she want the coffee beans and hot water for?" Alex asked, bemused.

"Craig, can you find me some harewort? You know what that is, right?"

"Sure, does it even grow out here?"

Willow looked out of the end of the alley they were closest to. "It's popular enough on open ground and the cold doesn't kill it off, you should be able to find some. You might have to dig through some snow for it though."

"No probs," Craig ran off in the other direction to Andrew.

"Giles, would you?" She tried to hand the pixie to him but he shrank back. "He's six inches tall, Giles!"

"Aye nawt gowen tow heem!" Joshiah put his hands on his hips and glared at the watcher.

"Whatever you said, I assure you the feeling is mutual."

It was Robin who took him in the end. He hadn't met a pixie before today either, but Giles had informed him of their habitation at the camp and so he'd taken it a lot more smoothly than Alex had. He held Josiah up to eye level, looking him over. He grinned when the little purple being looked him over in return.

Willow squatted down and dug a round hole in the snow.

"Might be hard to make a fire out here," Xander said.

"If the water is only just boiled when Andy brings it out I won't need a fire."

"What is going on?" Alex demanded.

Willow looked up, a twinkle in her green eyes, "Magick."

This company was so much more fun than Kennedy's Mom's. If interrogation was to be done, she'd much rather be giving it than taking it.

Andrew and Craig arrived back at more or less the same time – Andrew overheated from his excitement and Craig shivering from clawing about in the snow.

"Thanks, boys." Willow dropped the beans and harewort into the steaming mug and then split the teabag and dumped the contents in on top. She used a cheap pen she found in Robin's pocket as a stirrer. "Now watch and learn, Craig."

As she muttered a few words, Alex took another step back and asked again, "What the hell is going on?"

Pale brown smoke plumed out of the mug and Willow waved it towards Xander.

"Hey!"

He didn't need to worry, it targeted the worried elf's nose and mouth until it was all sucked into its body.

Once it had all disappeared, Willow plopped back onto her butt. She didn't care that the snow was soaking through her pants as weariness outweighed her cockiness.

"Will, you okay?" Xander stooped towards her, accidentally danging the elf in her face.

She batted it away. "I'll be fine. Just ask it some questions before the spell fades 'cause I don't have time to do that again."

Giles went first. "Are you and your brethren eating children?"

"Oh, this is getting ridiculous," Alex snapped.

The elf spoke in the same unintelligible language he had been all along and Giles huffed in annoyance and disappointment. "It didn't work."

"Give it a sec," Willow said.

As she spoke pale brown smoke issued from the elf's mouth and flimsy, streaky words appeared in the air in front of it.

"My brethren and I do not eat children."

The smoke quickly dissipiated on the breeze blowing through the alley.

Giles smiled, but grimly. "I do not believe that to be true."

The elf said something, a few seconds later the brown words appeared. "It is."

"Then how do you explain all of the child deaths in your presence?"

More elf speak, and then hanging in the air, "I am not at liberty to explain them."

Everyone was taken by surprise and had to step back as Alex pushed between them to close his large hand around the elf's slim throat. "Are you at liberty to die? Because you're not human, in fact I'm pretty sure you're just a figment of my imagination, so if you don't tell me what the hell is going on in my town I have no issues with killing you! Do you understand?"

"Easy, Al," Xander cautioned.

"Easy?" Alex dropped his rifle and gripped the front of Xander's jacket with his other hand. "I don't know what's going on, I'm pretty sure you guys drugged me at lunch, but if there is even a fleeting chance this . . . this _thing_ knows what is killing the kids around here, I'm not going easy on it!"

Xander remained surprisingly calm. "But crushing its windpipe, or mine, isn't going to get you any answers either."

Alex let them both go and stepped back, but only by a few inches, and he continued to glower at the elf. "Get it to talk."

The elf coughed and rubbed at its throat.

Giles clicked his fingers in front of its beautiful face to get its attention back. "Tell us what is going on."

* * *

They'd reached level ground once more and were pushing themselves across the deep snow as quickly as they could. Their lack of skill in the skis was showing itself now and it was becoming hard work to just scoot along.

Faith paused for a breather and Buffy slid to a stop a few feet ahead of her but didn't look back.

"You see that?" Faith asked.

"It's the Santa Grotto."

The small, brightly lit building was maybe half a mile in front of them, impossible to miss in the dark night.

"I meant the elves running towards it."

"Yeah, I saw them."

"Think that blob they're carrying is Olly?"

"I'm sure of it."

"You ever gonna speak in words of more than one syllable to me again?"

"Doubt it. Come on."

Faith pushed off on her skis again. "What's our plan?"

Buffy waited until she was beside her and then dug her poles into the snow to gain some leverage. Side by side, without once sharing a glance, they set off again.

"We won't get there in time to keep them out. So we storm it."

"Storm Santa's Grotto?"

"Can you think of a plan that's . . . not that?"

"No."

"Then let's do it."

"Nice job of keeping to one syllable."

"I know. Thanks."

* * *

Despite the language barrier Alex had gotten his point across.

The elf spoke and everyone waited for the brown words to appear.

"We only live to serve our master."

Josiah squeaked something at him and more brown words appeared as the elf answered the pixie. "It is not a servitude we chose. To not serve is to die."

The whooshy feeling of doing powerful magick gone, Willow finally stood back up and rubbed at her unpleasantly wet butt. "So it's your master who eats the children?"

"Yes!" hung in the air between them all.

"And who's your master?"

* * *

What Old One would have elves as servents," Reece murmured. "Who do elves work for?"

"At Christmas?" Miranda unrolled the poster once more. "How about him?"

They all stared at it some more until Reece shook his head.

"That's a fictional character."

"Um . . ." That drew all of the attention to Dawn. "He might not be entirely fictional."

"What do you mean?" Reece asked.

"He might be real."

"That's impossible!"

"Reece is right," Naomi began. "That's completely impossible."

Dawn shrugged. "Anya said he was real."

There was a moment of silence and then, as the kitchen erupted into chatter about this development – and most of it not entirely mission related – Vi said, "We need to call Buffy and let her know."

Reece agreed and looked to Dawn, "You should call her."

"Shouldn't you do it?"

He smiled, "You led us to the answer."

Dawn smiled back as she took her phone from the pocket of her robe. "Thank you."

Reece nodded, still smiling, and didn't feel the need to point out that he didn't have Buffy's number anyway.

* * *

They'd left their skis behind and crept through the deep snow to the back of the Grotto . Out front was a line of kids, waiting to meet Santa, and neither slayer needed to be told they had to deal with the elf problem before the kids were allowed in. Urgency was, well, urgent.

Buffy was pressing her ear to the back wall. "I can hear Olly crying."

"So he's still alive, that's good. I think the only way in is the front door."

"We barge past all those kids we're going to cause a scene."

"And if we don't one more of them is gonna end up dead!"

"Good point. But let's try and sneak around. The less people that see us the better."

"Okay."

Buffy's cell phone started to ring. "Crap!" She checked the caller ID and it was just Giles; he could wait. She cancelled the call and slipped it back into her pocket. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Any idea how we kill elves?" Faith asked as they inched their way around the building.

"Personally I'm just going to pretend they're all you, should make stomping on their heads pretty easy."

"Screw you."

"Not again in this lifetime."

They reached the front of the Grotto. A line of kids stretched out from the door as far as the eye could see but because neither she nor Faith were dressed as elves they were as good as invisible.

Buffy stopped by the door. "Look, we can't argue when we get in there."

"Not even planning to acknowledge you're alive, Twinkie. You do your job, I'll do mine and let's just splat as many elves as we can."

Buffy nodded and much to Faith's displeasure didn't even cast a hesitant glance in her direction before bursting through the wooden door.

The light was dim inside but not so much that Faith couldn't make out the dozens of elves in the room. She set to work at once, knocking the little bastards left, right and centre. She probably wasn't killing them with one blow but she was certainly putting them on the back foot.

"Faith!"

She turned instantly to Buffy's shout and saw her charging towards a curtain at the other end of the room. Buffy was just pushing it to the side as Faith caught up and she saw what Buffy did. They both paused, not sure what the hell was going on.

Olly was still alive and kicking . . . really kicking as he screamed his head off in the elf's arms. But Santa Claus was there, telling the boy to calm down, everything was okay, there were presents . . .

"Did we read this wrong?" Faith breathed. "Maybe it's all part of the show and they just picked a hysterical kid as the prize winner."

Buffy glanced around at Santa's inner sanctum – at the piles of brightly wrapped gifts, rows of twinkling Christmas lights strung around the walls and the little plastic reindeer with the red fiber-optic nose – it certainly didn't scream horror and death. "You might be right. I think we might have the wrong elves."

"So we just back away quietly?"

Buffy nodded, "Probably for the best."

Her cell phone rang again, causing Santa to pause in dragging Olly onto his red velvet knee. His beady black eyes behind the half-moon spectacles focused on them at the first note of the piercing ring and at the same time several of the elves they'd steamrollered through to get to the curtain dashed through after them.

"Uh, hi." Buffy gave a little wave.

"We were just . . ." Faith began.

"Seize them!" Santa Claus growled.

Faith's hands and knees were grasped by several elves, anchoring her in place. She looked down disdainfully and with a simple flick of her wrist sent three of them flying through the air to crash-land in a pile of shiny gifts.

"Hey! No!" Buffy shouted.

Faith didn't look up as she kicked her leg out, freeing it from four more elves. Buffy could handle herself, and if she couldn't this particular time . . . Faith was inclined not to care all that damn much. If the stuck-up princess wanted zero acknowledgement, she could have it. She had her own problems to deal with right now and, well, Buffy getting eaten by elves would actually probably solve one of them.

An elf flew past her face and hit the far wall as Buffy shouted again. "Olly!"

Wondering what was wrong with the brat to make Buffy shout like_ that_, Faith's eyes cut through the faint, twinkling light to find him. He was still with Santa, but no longer on his knee. He was held high in one plump hand, dangling above the fat man's face, and as Faith watched a gaping red maw appeared within the depths of the curly white beard.

"What the f . . .?" Faith yelled

Oliver screamed at the top of his little lungs as she fought her way out of the pool of clinging elves between her and Santa Claus. She had no weapons but she didn't care, she was going to kick his jolly, red ass all the way back to the North Pole in Hell just fine without. If only she could get to him! Arms free, Faith resorted to picking up the damn elves two at a time and chucking them out of the way.

Buffy reached him first, snatching Oliver away from his hands just before the unthinkable happened and Santa's hugely wide jaws snapped shut around the loose top of the boy's puffy hood. As Buffy turned to run with him, the hood was ripped from his coat, making the boy squeal in pain as the fastened coat pulled tight against his throat, but at least he still had a throat to squeal from.

Buffy didn't get more than a few steps. The elves in front of her slowed her down and Santa gripped her from behind, stopping her in her tracks before pulling her back towards him.

"Faith!" Buffy launched Olly through the air as soon as she looked up. "Get him out of here."

Faith caught the boy easily in her arms. "What about . . .?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Not actually what I was gonna ask."

Faith was already kicking and shoving her way back towards the curtain, holding the kid high so the elves couldn't grab his boots. She just had time to hear Buffy call her a bitch before pushing through to the outer room of the Grotto. There were very few elves here now because most had chased them inside; those left were unconscious or groggy.

Outside, Faith set Oliver down on the snow. He was still crying and clingy as hell but she gave him a sharp push to get him away. "Run, ya little idiot. Go on, go find your folks."

He still looked scared to leave her side, snot dribbled from his little red nose and he held his arms up with a plaintive whimper of "Faif!"

"Go!" she snapped. "Or do you want me to take you back to the boogie man!"

That did it. He ran off, tripping in the snow, crying for his Mama. Faith didn't hold that against him anymore. The line of clueless kids were still waiting, and now they called to her, wanting to know when it was their turn to meet Santa. Faith ignored them as she patted her pockets for her cigarettes.

She was just working one loose from the pack when it occurred to her to look over her shoulder. Where was Buffy? It shouldn't have taken her that long to trample over the elves and get out.

Suddenly convinced she'd missed some danger inside, Faith tried to fumble pack and cigarette into opposite pockets as she turned to dash back in, dropping both to the snow without realising. Not that she would have stopped to pick them up if she had.

She ran back through the curtain, pulling it down around her in her haste, to see Santa Claus trying to pull a struggling Buffy towards his wide open jaws.

[End of Act three]


	21. Act 4:1

Hi, guys. Happy Holidays! This seems like the perfect time of year to try and finish the holiday episode of House of the Setting Sun . . . that I only started a year and a half ago! So here's the start of Act Four and the rest will be up by New Years Day (at least, that's the plan) :)

Thanks for the reviews for the last update, I've lost track of who I've responded to individually, but thank you all, I love receiving your feedback.

* * *

_Suddenly convinced she'd missed some danger inside, Faith tried to fumble pack and cigarette into opposite pockets as she turned to dash back in, dropping both to the snow without realising. Not that she would have stopped to go back if she had._

_She ran back through the curtain, pulling it down around her in her haste, to see Santa Claus trying to pull a struggling Buffy towards his wide open jaws. _

_"Buffy!" _

**Act Four**

"He's strong," Buffy grunted, still struggling against Santa's claws.

Faith was only halfway through her pre-charge battle cry when Santa's maw closed to an almost human width and he said, "Come any closer and she loses a head."

Faith paused on her toes, hands clawing, frustrated, at the empty air in front of her before closing into tight and deadly fists. "If you're gonna bite her head off either way, what's to stop me from coming over there and kicking your ass?"

"This way you get to say goodbye," Santa explained, his tone kindly and, freaking hell, he actually sounded _jolly_.

"Trust me, we've already said our goodbyes," Buffy said sarcastically and Faith couldn't believe she was putting their problems ahead of her own life.

"B, shut the fuck up!"

"See? Why would I want to stick around for that?"

"So me having an opinion on us gives you a death wish? B, you're even more screwed up than I thought."

"I know what you're doing." Santa allowed Buffy to stand up, sort of; she was still crouched in an awkward position but her head wasn't at a weird angle any more. His grip must have been wicked strong though because while Buffy still struggled she never gained an inch. "You're trying to convince me you won't taste very good."

"Hey, I taste _really_ good!"

Santa looked at Faith over the top of Buffy and she shrugged, "Dude, I can't remember. She hasn't let me eat her for months."

"Hey!" Buffy snapped again, twisting her neck around to glare at her.

Santa looked confused. "She is a slayer; she is the essence of good."

"Oh, that kind of good." Buffy twisted back around to look at him. "I'm not that good. I'm actually pretty bad as far as slayers go."

"I'm a slayer too. Not that anyone ever cares."

Santa looked over Buffy again. "You are?"

"Yeah."

"Innoki."

Faith didn't understand the word and she wasn't expecting it because the elves in the room had been keeping a wary distance since she'd re-entered, but suddenly there were a dozen swarming her, lifting her up and carrying her closer to Buffy and Santa. By the time she was aware of it, it was too late and Santa had a firm hold on her arm.

"Good going," Buffy snapped. "Now we're both screwed."

Faith struggled and saw why it hadn't helped Buffy at all: Santa had claws like iron manacles. She sighed; she'd wanted to rescue Buffy – although who the hell knew why – and now she was just going to get eaten right along beside her. She'd known that being with Buffy would one day be the death of her, but for fuck's sake, they'd broken up now – shouldn't that let her off the hook?

"Thought you'd be pleased you don't have to get chewed on alone."

"I may hate you right now, Faith, but that doesn't mean I want you dead!"

"See, true goodness," Santa said with a smile.

"You _hate _me? We go from a little fight to you _hating _me?" Faith rolled her eyes to the bearded beast. "Does that sound like a nice person to you?"

He hesitated.

"Don't turn this around! You've been an asshole since the day we met!"

"Maybe I was when we met, but I'm a better person than you now!"

Santa cleared his throat. "You have robbed me of my feast of innocent children and I am ravenous, but you are larger than children and so I will only eat one of you today. I need to save some room for the fair in Boudenver. So which of you is really the good one, I wonder?"

There was a pause before both of them said, "I am!"

"That is unhelpful." He sniffed first Buffy and then Faith as if that would be more helpful.

"I'm the good one," Buffy promised. "Everyone knows it. Eat me."

"Nah, she sleeps with vampires and shit. I've never done that. Eat me."

Santa's port-red nose wrinkled and he drew his face further from Buffy.

"Yeah, but she sleeps with a lotof humans. _A lot_! And she kills them. I'm gooder than her."

Now Santa was wrinkling his nose at both of them.

"Hey, she screwed me just for the thrill of doing someone bad!"

"She _what_ you?" Santa looked mortified.

"Oh yeah, didn't I mention she's a dirty lesbian? That's bad, right?"

"Excuse me? Pot, you're black!"

"And she's racist, see? She'll totally taste of evil!"

Santa was holding Buffy further away from him while practically drooling on Faith's shoulder as he listened to them.

"Hey! I am not a racist, and I am not a dirty lesbian. I'm a _clean_ lesbian! I screwed you because I loved you, not for some kinky thrill. You're the one who only did me because you were desperate for sex!"

"What the hell? I've loved you since before you barely knew I existed! You breaking up with me earlier made me want to _die_. _And_ take a few people with me!"

Santa was holding them both at arm's length now, looking between them like they were slimy newts not two hot slayers. Faith caught Buffy's eye – and it wasn't something she'd planned, what she'd _planned _was delivering another insult – but when Buffy nodded she knew what to do. Wrapping both hands around Santa Claus' elbow, Faith swung her legs up and kicked him in his barrel chest. He fell back in his chair at the surprise impact, jolting Faith back down but giving Buffy the chance to bring a foot up into his face, knocking his half-moon specs askew.

He let go of Buffy but his hold on Faith was as strong as ever. It didn't matter, she had enough room now to raise her boot and stomp on his knee, making him utter a growl of pain. Buffy, finally free from his grasp, jumped onto his lap, curled her left hand in his curly white beard, holding him still while her right hook pounded into his jolly, red face.

Elves swarmed them again, but even held as she was, Faith was able to kick most of them back. Buffy mostly ignored the ones that made it past her, only throwing the odd elbow back into them.

It took a dozen punches before Faith was dropped into the wave of elves and Santa raised his arms to defend himself.

"This is deplorable," he yelled; he couldn't find the room to hit her back properly so he was bashing at her head with his furry white cuffs, trying to dislodge her. "You're both going on my naughty list!"

"Good!" Faith grunted, throwing elves off left and right as she was finally able to join in the attack. "'Cause it sounds way healthier than your 'nice' list!"  
His cheeks were turning from rosy to purple under their fists and his beard was streaked bright red – kinda festive, like a hairy candy cane – with blood from his nose and lips, but Santa Claus must've missed Faith's Christmas letter _again, _because she apparently wasn't getting what she wanted most this year either – this _fat demon bastard _dead!

If anything he seemed to be getting _more _resilient. His face was puffing out, swelling, but not from their assault, more like he was one of those giant blow up Santa's you saw on roofs and right now someone was over-inflating him. His nose was getting broader, his cheeks plumped, his beard and eyebrows grew longer and fluffier and then he . . . he _burst _into a cloud of shiny red, gold and silver glitter and the jingle of Christmas bells tinkling in the air.

The magical moment was broken by the sound of Faith's fist smacking hard into the back of Santa's empty chair with an accompanying "Ow, _fuck_!" and an "Eep!" as Buffy fell through three feet of thin air to land on an elf. He probably tried to 'Eep!' too and Faith just couldn't hear it because it was muffled by Buffy's ass.

Faith sucked on a split knuckle as she looked wildly around the room. "Okay, where'd he go?"

"I think he . . ." Buffy followed suit, jumping to her feet before she could be gnawed on by an elf. ". . . he exploded. I also think I swallowed him," she spat some glitter out of her mouth. "Great, now I truly have the spirit of Christmas in me."

Faith chuckled and moved her attention closer to ground level. There were a lot of elves staring back at her and she braced for their angry onslaught.

Then the chief elf suddenly fell on his knees, head down, unmistakably groveling. The others fell in behind him and in heavily accented English he thanked them again and again.

"This is weird," Buffy muttered, edging closer to her. "Minions usually try to finish what their master started."

Faith shrugged. "Let's not look a gift elf in the mouth." Louder, she added, "So what just happened and is he coming back or what?"

Innoki stood back up but kept his head respectfully bowed, "He has left this dimension and I do not know, he has never departed without my brethren and his reindeer before."

"So you think that means he's coming back soon?"

The chief elf gave her a genuine and beautiful smile, "No, I think it means he will be gone for a very long time."

"Explain," Buffy demanded, but the strength of it was diminished by her screwing her mouth up and spitting again.

"His presence in this realm relies on people accepting him without question. Now he is no longer fully accepted, thanks to you," he smiled again. "But you must finish what you have started and spread the word that Kris Kringle no longer exists; it is the only way to stop him from ever coming back."

Faith shared a knowing smirk with Buffy. "Tell the world Santa's a fake? Yeah, we'll get right on that."

Innoki bowed low before them and then within seconds there were no elves left in the Grotto.

Faith rubbed her arm where Santa had gripped her, and glancing up noticed Buffy was rubbing her shoulder and the back of her neck too. "You okay?"

"For a fight where I threw more punches than I took I'm in a surprising amount of pain."

"Yeah, his hands made a damn tiger bite look gentle," Faith agreed, still rubbing her arm.

They were alone now, surrounded by gifts and twinkly lights and tinsel, and they both fell silent as they rubbed their sore places and looked around uncomfortably.

"So we won," Buffy murmured. "The children are safe now."

"Yeah. Feels good."

"Would have felt better if we'd actually killed him."

"Yeah."

Another minute of silence ticked by.

"I don't _hate_ you!" Buffy blurted.

"Yeah, well," Faith looked up at the lights. "I _do _love you."

"Really?"

Faith switched to looking at a pile of square, red-papered gifts, wondering if there was actually something inside them or if they were just for show. "Sure."

"_Really?_" Buffy asked again.

She turned her head, feeling irritable. What, did the chick need it in writing or something? Didn't she get it was hard enough for her to say the first time? Finding Buffy staring intently at her, not looking like she was trying to be difficult but instead unsure and little scared, Faith's irritation melted and she smiled softly.

"Yeah, I do."

Buffy smiled too, but then looked down at her feet. She met Faith's eyes again only for a second as she said, "Maybe we should, uh, un-break up. I mean, just for today at least. It's been a stressful day and we probably shouldn't make big decisions in the middle of, uh, stressful days."

She shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

"You don't have to sound so . . ."

"B?" Faith pleaded as she turned to her and took a step closer. "Don't."

"Yeah, okay," Buffy said quietly, nodding.

There was a beat where nothing happened and Faith started to feel awkward, like she should say more but she didn't know what. In the face of her uncertainty her mind turned practical: they should probably be getting out of there. There was a line of kids outside and it wouldn't look good if they were there and Santa wasn't when they started trooping in. She was about to say as much when Buffy walked closer, reaching out to take both of her hands in hers.

She looked at the bleeding knuckle for a second, raising it to blow a warm puff of air across the cut, before dropping it back between them and squeezing both hands gently. "I know you were trying to save me before."

Faith nodded, squeezing back. "You were trying to save me too."

"And that means something."

"Means we don't want each other dead." She chuckled. "Which is a start."

"Does it mean more than that?" Buffy asked hesitantly.

"You know it means a lot more than that."

Buffy grinned. It was bashful and adorable. "It means you love me?"

Faith grinned too, "Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Okay, it's not a big deal."

Faith pulled on Buffy's hands, letting go of them just before their bodies bumped together and wrapping her arms around her to keep her close. "Can be a big deal if you want."

"I want."

"You _want_, huh?"

"If you make this about sex, I may have to punch you," Buffy warned, but there was a teasing light in her eyes.

Faith capitalized on it. "If you don't let me kiss you now, I may have to punch you."

Buffy frowned and smiled at the same time, "That sounded so wrong. I think you may need to see a therapist."

Laughing lightly, Faith pulled her closer, pressing the side of her head to Buffy's and dropping a sweet kiss just below her ear, where her neck poked out of the collar of her big, puffy ski jacket. She straightened up right after but Buffy had other ideas and pulled her back in, burrowing her face into Faith's much more accessible neck and holding her tight.

The hug lasted until Faith started to feel fidgety and she pulled away, taking a step back and rolling her shoulders. She felt embarrassed now, for being so sappy even if it had only lasted a few minutes, but . . . she was okay with it, providing she didn't have to do it again anytime soon. It felt good to finally get those words off of her chest, better than she'd thought it would, but she wasn't an idiot despite what some people thought and saying _'I love you' _and having a hug wasn't going to cure all of their problems.

Buffy was pouting. "What are you doing all the way over there again?"

Faith laughed, she was like a foot and a half away! Close enough to still see grains of red, gold and silver making Buffy's lips and cheeks sparkle. Reaching out a thumb, she swiped some away from her bottom lip.

"I don't really hug much, B. In fact I think that was my best personal time in terms of full body contact that isn't leading down a naked and sweaty path. And as you don't want me to make this about sex . . ."

"We could make it a little bit about sex?" Buffy grinned, stepping close enough to slide her hands over Faith's shoulders, fingers massaging a little and even with the backwards angle it felt good on her sore muscles.

"How do you make something a little bit about sex?"

"I don't know," Buffy dropped her voice to a purr, "want to go and roll around in those presents together and find out?"

It was the slay talking, all that power and energy coursing through her bloodstream, titillating her superhuman hormones and making her want to get down and dirty on the nearest flat surface as soon as superhumanly possible. Faith was feeling it too but she was also feeling like her shoulder had recently been ripped from its socket and then she'd been shook around like a rag doll by demon-Santa and, honestly, she felt more like taking her clothes off so Buffy could give her back a real massage than for anything else. But! A little bit of sex was better than no sex and who knew if Buffy was gonna even take that off the table once her buzz had worn off.

"Nice idea, but those presents look kinda lumpy. Let's just do it a little bit right here."

She barely had time to waggle her eyebrows suggestively before Buffy's lips were on hers. The kiss was hungry and needy but for the first time in days it wasn't angry and Faith ate it all up.

"We should, um, the ground," Buffy mumbled.

"We should _what _the ground?" Faith mumbled back. Her hands were already roaming, she couldn't help them, and she was too busy trying to figure out how far a 'little bit of sex' allowed her to go – it had to make her tits fair game, right? – to care what issues Buffy had with the sawdust covered floor.

"We should get on it."

"No worries, B, I'm already on it," she promised, and if that wasn't a green light what was?

She palmed both tits . . . correction, she palmed the area where they should have been, or still were but unreachable right now. Damn snow jacket was even worse than the Wonder Woman costume, at least that had allowed her to _see_ the goods.

"I meant get on the floor, _moron_," Buffy laughed against the side of her mouth. "And coats usually have these shiny things, right in the middle, they go up and down if you tug on the little tongue, some people have even found they're useful in getting to what's underneath."

"Smart mouth." She had her fingers on the zipper but forgot the instructions on how to use it when Buffy started to kiss down her throat. Her head tipped back. "God, I love your smart mouth."

"You love all of me," Buffy sucked at the base of her throat and Faith could feel her smirk.

"Don't ruin it," she joked and received a slayer-strength swat on her ass. "I'd say _ow_, but I kinda liked it."

Buffy giggled against her and started to unbutton her jacket. Oh, right, she'd been doing something. Unzipping the coat, Faith pushed her hands inside and . . . groaned.

"Damn, B, how many layers are you wearing?"

"Three more, four if you include my bra."

"We're in Ohio not Antarctica! It's easier to find diamonds in Africa than your tits right now!"

"Just shut up and start digging for those jewels." Faith bit hard on her bottom lip and then smushed them as tight together as possible, willing not even the tiniest sound to come out. Buffy sighed, but her own amusement came through. "If you laugh at me for referring to my breasts as jewels, I'm not going anywhere near _your_ diamonds."

It worked, although she was definitely remembering that one to tease her about later, in front of as many people as possible. Willow and Kennedy would get a kick out of it for sure.

"Fine, but I ain't digging around in the dark for them."

"Huh-what?"

She answered Buffy's question with an action. Grabbing the hems of the sweater, the long sleeved t-shirt and the thermal vest – _thermal vest? _– she yanked them up as far as the arms on the unzipped coat would allow.

"Faith!"

"Buffy." She admired the newly uncovered skin, now only marred by a white sports bra. She pushed that up too and then nodded in greeting. "Buffy's tits."

"That's okay, Faith, just expose me in Santa's Grotto, that's completely okay." Despite the sarcasm she didn't make a move to cover up. She just stood there looking, well, as horny as hell actually.

"Good, sorry if my hands are cold."

"Please blow on them, your _hands, _I mean, first."

"Grow a pair, Buffy," she said, but the blonde was shivering so she quickly did as asked, huffing on her palms to warm them up and then rubbing them together and then . . .

"Santa!"

"Santa Claus!"

"Wait, kids, you can't just . . .!"

"_Faith!_"

Buffy slapped her hands away in a panic, which was pretty stupid considering they'd been the only thing covering her 'jewels' when a dozen kids came running into the Grotto, trampling the remains of the curtain under this little feet and chased by a couple of human-elf attendants.

Obviously they'd gotten bored of waiting in line and now they were standing there, eyes bugging at the show Buffy was accidentally putting on.

"Uh," Faith began as she stared back at the intruders, but had no idea what to say to make this look less bad. She ran a hand through her hair, and looked to Buffy for suggestions.

Buffy was bright pink in the face and she was tugging down her clothes and straightening them, frantically and compulsively, hands tugging at and smoothing the sweater long after it was necessary.

Faith felt like laughing, because while this wasn't a good situation, on another level it was a freakin' hilarious situation. She knew she couldn't laugh though because Buffy would probably kill her. That was enough to stop her for all of thirty seconds, but looking from Buffy's blushes to the kid's confusion to the human-elves wide-eyed stares, and taking into account how elated she felt right now, she couldn't keep it in.

As her laughter bubbled out, gaining strength quickly until she had to put her hands on her knees to brace herself, Buffy shoved at her shoulder in horror at her reaction. That was to be expected, less expected was, when Faith couldn't stop her laughter on cue – and she really did try for Buffy sake – Buffy joined in! Not quite so freely but there was definitely soft chuckling and there was mirth present in with the embarrassment in her distraught eyes.

"Faith!" she snapped, with nowhere near as much anger as she was probably trying for.

Doing her best, Faith straightened back up and held her hands in the air. "Sorry kids, didn't mean to scar you with the best experience of your lives. We'll just be going."

She waved for Buffy to escape first but one skinny, three-foot white boy stepped in front of them first, piping up with, "Where's Santa? We wanna see Santa."

A Chinese girl, no more than four years old, stamped her foot like a pro. "We waited hours and hours!"

Faith shrugged, "Sorry, kids, no Santa today."

As every kid in the joint started protesting loudly, Buffy dug her in the ribs from behind. "Don't be mean!"

Faith turned to mutter at her. "You think it's better they wait here for him to come back?"

"Good point." Buffy raised her voice to carry over the noise. "Hey, kids, Santa doesn't actually exist. There's no such thing. It's just an old, creepy, fat guy in a suit."

Eleven kids started wailing, the twelfth said, "I knew it!"

"I wanted to tell them that," Faith griped.

Buffy smiled at her sweetly, "So I figured, but I got there first."

"Bitch," Faith muttered, smiling. She twisted around and planted her lips on Buffy's before the blonde could stop her. Surprisingly, Buffy didn't even try and stop her.

As they drew slowly apart, one kid, who looked way too old to believe in Santa anyway, asked in a mournful voice, "So Santa Claus ain't gonna bring us what we want this year?"

"'Fraid not, dude," Faith apologised as she took Buffy's hand.

"Speak for yourself," one of the human-elves said as he watched them go with wide eyes, and possibly a little drool at the corner of his mouth. Faith was pretty sure it was Greg's friend from the card game.

Faith shot him a smirk as she and Buffy left the Grotto. Damn straight! She had her perfect little Christmas gift walking right next to her. That for sure made up for all those times Santa had neglected her in the past.

As they stepped out into the snowy darkness, the biting wind instantly shredding the warmth they'd felt inside, she knew she didn't want this feeling, this buzz between them, to end just yet, so she asked hopefully, "You wanna go back to the cabin? Cause some steam? Celebrate our victory?"

"No." Faith felt her heart sink until Buffy turned to look her right in the eyes. "Actually, I'd like to go to the bar, to talk, but properly, about how we're gonna make this, _us, _work long-term, because I never want to feel like we can't again. Is that okay?"

Faith nodded slowly, grinning widely. "I'm down."

Buffy smiled and then bumped her with her shoulder and took her hand again. "Also, you need to get me really drunk to forget about the humiliation I just suffered."

Faith laughed softly, repeating, "I'm down."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Kennedy's step-father gave her an indulgent smile at her incredulous outburst and repeated himself. "I'm asking you to run our Ohio branch."

"You don't have an Ohio branch."

"But we will, in about three months." He nudged the paperwork that she hadn't looked at yet closer to her. "You don't want to go to college, and that's fine, it's not for everyone, but I know you Kennedy. You have leadership skills that shouldn't be wasted."

"I have a job."

"One that you won't give us any details about, which makes your Mom and I think you might be a little ashamed of it."

"I'm not _ashamed _of it! I just can't . . ." Kennedy looked blankly down at the papers. "I work in a school, it's a good school and my job is important. I can't just ditch it."

"You work in a school that's only existed for four months."

She looked up sharply, knowing that he'd obviously done some research. What else did he know? She'd trust Jesús with her life but not necessarily the knowledge of what she was doing with her life.

He read her look, rightly or wrongly she didn't know. "Hey, I'm not saying it's a front for a money laundering business or anything. I'm sure it's legit, but does it pay a hundred grand a year?"

No. She did the math in her head, taking into account her 'salary' as a slayer and the fact that she got free bed and board, and frowned. It probably evened out at about forty grand a year, give or take.

"Twenty days vacation a year. Full health insurance. Company car," he wheedled.

Kennedy smirked a little. "What's the catch?"

Jesús smirked back. "Good girl, there's always a catch. In this case there's two. You have to do the job properly and make me the money I'm paying you – you're not just a figurehead, I'm gonna need you to work your butt off. And, there's the reputation of the company to think about."

Kennedy scowled. "I thought we were cool, Dad. I'm never going to date one of your corporate assholes to make you look better."

"Firstly, _language, _Kennedy! Secondly, since when am I an _asshole _in your eyes? You and Willow . . ."

"I'm _not _breaking up with Willow!"

"Calm your tongue, young lady!" She seethed quietly until he continued. "You and Willow are serious with each other, your mother and I can see that, that's why I'm sparing no expense to open a new office in Cleveland instead of offering you a lower position back in New York."

"I don't get how your reputation comes into this."

"Morales Industries has always been a family orientated business and we get a lot of good press because of that. Good press we can't afford to lose. If you take this position you're going to have to live up to that."

"And that means what?"

"You can't fool around with your personal life," he told her straight and then held his hand up when she was about to shout at him. "Don't! I'll be the first one to tell the media by beloved daughter is an out and proud lesbian, but I can't have you in that position if you're promiscuous."

"I'm not! I _love_ Willow. She's the one, Dad! I can't imagine ever . . ." she shook her head. "I am as serious about her as it gets."

He smiled in a way that made her wonder what she'd just missed and then reached across the desk to pat her hand.

"That's good to know. Read through the papers." He nudged them towards her again. "I'll have a contract drawn up by the middle of January."

Kennedy grinned, "I haven't said yes yet."

He grinned back. "You will 'cause your Momma didn't raise no idiot."

The office door suddenly flew open and Kennedy turned in her seat to see her _Momma _standing there like someone had cancelled her manicure appointment and nobody had told her.

"What's wrong?" Jesús asked, standing up in concern.

"Willow ran away!"

Kennedy stood up and turned so fast her chair rocked back before hitting her knees on its return. "What did you freaking say, Mom?"

"Nothing! We were talking about how good you two could be together and then she left to go to the bathroom and never came back!"

Kennedy breathed a sigh of relief. "She's probably just hiding from you in the bathroom."

"Don't you think I checked that? After twenty minutes I went to offer her a laxative . . ." Kennedy cringed on her girlfriend's behalf. ". . . and she wasn't in there. I've had Heidi check the whole house . . . I'm sorry, Kennedy, she's gone."

Kennedy went from a standing start to a sprint, she probably looked blurry to her parents but she didn't care. She took the stairs three at a time and dashed into her bedroom. All of her clothes were still there, so . . . where was she?

She didn't blame Willow for escaping her Mom, but it was dark out and Willow didn't know her way around and . . . oh God, what if something happened to her out there and she never got to kiss her again or tell her she loved her one more time?

Okay, she was thinking like a mere mortal, not a slayer whose girlfriend was one of the most powerful witches on the planet – she was thinking like _Andrew_! She just had to stop for a second and think. Willow's shoes! She'd only brought two pairs, her sensible heels and the snow boots she'd purchased with Buffy last week. Her shoes were right there in front of the closet and her boots had been left by the front door with Kennedy's. If they were still there then she was still in the house _somewhere_. If they weren't there, Kennedy just had to go out looking. Providing Willow had stayed on her feet and wasn't flying or teleporting around, Kennedy could cover the ground faster than her.

She walked back out onto the landing, just as her Mom and Step-Dad caught up with her. They must have run too, because her Mom was out of breath from scaling the stairs.

"How did you do that?" her Mom accused, pointing a finger at her.

"I'm the Phys. Ed. teacher, I'm in great shape," she lied, already moving past them.

"I don't believe you."

"Well, how else would you explain it?"

She didn't care what theories her Mom might come up with at this point. She just had to find Willow. They'd been great the past week but things were still a little awkward at times. Just because they were on the same page _now _didn't alter the fact that they _hadn't been_ for a months. What if her Mom really had said something that had scared her off? Willow wasn't a fickle teenager, she wasn't just experimenting with her sexuality and she wasn't scared of being in a committed relationship, but Rosie Morales had been known to accidentally scare off the stoutest of hearts.

Roxanne came down the stairs from her converted attic room and blocked her path before Kennedy could leave the landing. "What's going on? More family drama? I'm so glad your back," she drawled sarcastically but with a real smile.

"Move, Rox, I need to find Willow!"

She was careful _not _to barge past her, because the mood she was she'd probably send her flying.

"You so suck at Hide and Seek."

"What?"

"Willow's right there," she pointed to the other end of the long landing. "Trying to hide behind Mom's stupid potted tree thing."

Kennedy spun around, so did her Mom and Dad, and Willow sheepishly stepped out from behind the stupid potted tree thing.

"Hey." She gave a little wave to them all, shivering from head to foot.

Kennedy rushed over but her Mom got there first, enveloping her in a massive hug. "Oh, I'm so glad you came back. I thought I'd scared you off for forever!"

"No, you didn't scare me off," Willow's teeth were chattering despite how warm it was up here. "I just stepped out for some air after my phone call. Sometimes I forget I'm not in Sunnydale anymore. Sorry I didn't come back to our chat."

"Oh, that's okay!" Her Mom hugged her again. "We can talk more later!"

"Yay," Willow said with zero enthusiasm but a bright smile to make up for it.

"My turn." Kennedy nudged her Mom out of the way and hugged Willow. She was wearing a heavy coat that definitely didn't belong to her – it was about three sizes too big to start with – but was vaguely familiar anyway. "Don't _ever _let my Mom scare you off, okay? Even if it means I have to disown these guys to make you stay," she joked, earning a backhand to her shoulder from her Mom.

"Keep the door open," her Mom said, ushering her Step-Dad and her half-sister down the stairs. "And dinner will be in one hour and after that we will be going to Mass."

Kennedy left the door to her suite open and the door to her bedroom as she pulled Willow inside by her hand. "What happened? Where did you go? You're freezing, and there's no way you would have stayed in the backyard for that long just for air. And whose coat are you wearing?"

"Robin's." Kennedy quirked an eyebrow. "I had to go to Boudenver," Willow admitted. "Giles called and they needed me urgently. Obviously I couldn't tell your Mom that."

"Is that safe?" she asked, peeling Willow out of the coat and then pulling her towards the ensuite bathroom. "Teleporting all that way, I mean?"

"I wouldn't have done it through choice, but you know our business, rarely much choice involved. I feel fine though, just a little light-headed from the trip back." Willow smiled, "You're undressing me. I think your Mom would disapprove."

Kennedy finished pulling her pants down her legs and waited for her to step out of them. "You need a hot shower; I have no ulterior motives . . . right now. So what did Giles need?"

"Some elf translation. Turns out they're not the ones eating little children. It's Santa."

Kennedy stood and started pulling Willow's Hanukah jumper off. "I wish I was more shocked by that."

"Join the club. So what did your Dad want to talk about?"

"Can I . . .?" she hesitated. This was obviously something she needed to share but she wanted a few hours to think about it on her own first. "It's pretty big. Do you mind if we don't talk about it until tomorrow?"

Willow looked worried, but automatically said, "No, that's fine, sweetie. Um, do I really have to go to Mass?"

Kennedy relaxed into a smile, "You're Jewish, babe, not Satan, you won't burst into flames when you set foot in the church."

"Thanks for clearing that up," Willow said wryly and then grinned and pointed behind her to the shower. "You wanna get wet with me?"

Kennedy groaned, "You have no idea how much . . . but," she added when Willow was about to pull off her top. ". . . I'm terrified my Mom's sixth sense will trigger and she'll break down the bathroom door with our fire axe and I don't need her giving you any more reasons to run scared." She kissed Willow's pouty lip. "I love you too much to risk that."

"And I love you too much to be scared," Willow returned. "Nothing your Mom can do will make me leave you, Kennedy."

Heart a puddle in her toes, Kennedy leaned in for a longer kiss, only to be pushed back.

"But we probably should respect her rules anyway," Willow said, mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Kennedy groaned, "Sometimes I hate you, though." But after stealing another quick kiss she left Willow to have some privacy in the bathroom.

It wasn't like she didn't have enough to think about to keep occupied anyway.


	22. Act 4:2

Sorry it's been a while, back now. Hope you enjoy.

**Demon in Red – Act 4.2**

_Thirty minutes ago . . ._

The calling had started as soon as Willow had vanished back into thin air. He'd looked around people, feeling stupid even as he did so, to see if she was hiding behind Robin or Giles or Xander but no, she was just gone.

"Drat and blast! She's not picking up," Giles complained, cancelling the call before muttering about 'the blasted things' under his breath as he tried to press the small buttons on his cell phone with pudgy, gloved fingers.

Robert – Robin? Robson? Whatever – also had a phone to his ear. "I'm trying Faith."

"Someone call the house," Xander was saying to the younger boys. "If Santa really is behind this then Christmas Eve is gonna be his main event. We have to get in there and stop it right now."

"Get in where though?" the English kid asked as Andy pulled out his phone. "Does he have a lair he's holed up in or . . . Are we storming the mall?"

"The line's busy," Andy said, hanging up. "Dawn's probably gossiping with Fen again." He sounded both chiding and wistful.

"Hey, Legolas," Xander gave the elf still in his possession a little shake. "Where is your master?"

"We should have asked him that before Willow went back to New York," Giles grumbled. "Someone get her back again."

"Can't keep a signal."

"You can't expect her to teleport straight back here, she'll get sick again."

"Well, what do you suggest we do? Hundreds or more children could die this very night if we don't stop it."

"I think there's going to be a snowstorm." That was Frazer.

All of this and more was going over Alex's head, and only partly because he was now on his knees checking Willow's footprints in the snow. He was an experienced animal tracker, but even if he hadn't been it wasn't hard to tell the girl-sized grip-less slipper prints from the heavy snow boots the rest of them wore. She'd done some shuffling on the spot and had taken a few steps this way and that but the thing that had him concerned was that they didn't, in any direction, go beyond the rough circle the men's feet had created when they'd first gathered around. The tracks they'd all made when first rushing in here were already healed over with the fresh snowfall, leaving most of the alley floor a blank canvas. He could see Craig's tracks heading through unbroken snow to the common ground behind the town, and Andrew's – exactly the same brand of brand new hiking boots, just a size smaller – going the other way towards the The Mouth's main entrance but that was all.

Alex had seen a lot of things he couldn't explain and a lot of things he wished he'd never had to see, through being a youth counsellor and in his time with the sheriff's department. He'd seen kids beaten half to death by their own mothers and whole families of campers mauled to death by wild animals that were never caught or seen again. It was the kind of thing that would be too much for a fainter-hearted soul but the grisliness of these encounters had only ever made him baulk on a sympathetic level.

Even before that, just growing up in Boudenver was like an initiation into the strange. The place just had so much history, so many founders myths and legends that it was impossible not to get sucked into it as a kid. It didn't help that the area just seemed to attract weirdoes. From the crazy academy that raised kids too smart for anyone's good to those wacky old idiots that used to own Sunset Camp and upset everyone on a weekly basis with their antisocial nonsense.

At twenty-five Alex was starting to think he'd seen it all, but nothing had prepared him for this bunch of loons!

If little purple toys that talked and a beautiful elf-thing weren't enough, Willow had just _disappeared _as instantly as she had _a_ppeared.

"Where did Willow go?" he asked, his voice quieter and _shakier_ than he meant it to be.

Despite the low volume Xander was standing close enough to hear him over the melee of noise in the alley. "I expect she was eager to get back to her vacation in New York."

"But she was just right here!"

Xander shrugged. He was still holding the elf-thing and didn't seem to know what to do with it now.

"I can't get through to Buffy," Giles was saying again, phone still held to his ear. "She's not picking up."

"You have to," Andrew sounded frantic. "It's Christmas eve, Mr. Giles! If she doesn't know it's Santa there's no one to stop him from gorging himself tonight!"

"Don't you think I know that!"

"Plus, if they start killing elves willy-nilly, that's going to be some really bad karma," Craig put in.

"Oh my God we're going to start an Elf war," Andrew breathed like that was suddenly a way worse threat than children getting eaten by . . .

Alex rose to his feet like an erupting volcano, all mass and fire. "Are you seriously suggesting that _Santa Claus_ is responsible for killing those children?"

"You saw the writing in the air as clearly as we did, Al."

"Yes, but . . ."

No! No way. They were playing some trick on him. Some sick, twisted trick. He _had _seen the writing, but there had to be plenty of ways they could have made that happen. He'd seen magicians as a child and had never been able to work out how they performed their magic but that didn't mean he didn't know that it was all just smoke and mirrors now that he was an adult. This would prove to be the same, eventually.

"Faith's not picking up either," Robin said, ending the call and immediately trying again. "You don't suppose they're in trouble?"

"Oh Buffy and Faith together and in trouble, what are the chances of that?" Xander said.

"Is anybody trying the house," Giles snapped in response. "Buffy might've already called there with news if something is happening."

Xander was about to when it rang in his hands. "Hey, speak of the devils." He answered and turned it to loud speaker. "Hi Dawn, what's up? You'll never guess what we found . . ."

"Santa Claus is eating the children!" was shouted tinily through the phone. "And we can't get hold of Buffy and Giles' line is engaged! What do we do?"

"Well, first of all, way to steal our thunder, Dawn! And secondly . . ."

"Buffy, answer your blasted phone will you!" Giles suddenly shouted into his own cell. "We have it on good authority Santa Claus is the culprit and we need to formulate a plan of attack immediately!"

Okay, enough was enough! Alex didn't know how Dawn was in on the trick too, it felt like overkill, but he was done listening to them make light of this matter.

"That's it!" he bellowed. "You're all under arrest!"

Everyone stopped and turned to him with varying degrees of gaping. The cramped alley was silent apart from his own heavy breathing.

Until Dawn's tinny voice piped up, "Um, all of _us_ too?"

"Yes!"

"But it's Christmas," Andrew whined.

"Uh, Alex, are you feeling okay?" Xander took a step closer to his side. "You look a little . . . meltdowny."

"No, I am not okay!" He _felt_ a little meltdowny. "This has all gone beyond a joke. Santa is a fairytale. He doesn't _eat _kids. He _can't_ eat kids because he doesn't _exist_! You almost had me with these . . . these . . . _this prop_," he barked, prodding the elf in the chest and making him sway to and fro in Xander's grip. "And that thing," he added, pointing hard at the purple whateveritwas. "But _Santa_? Please! Do you think I'm a simpleton?"

"I assure you, there is not one of us who thinks this is a joke," Mr. Giles told him sternly, already redialling. "Your ignorance in this matter is understandable but it's putting innocent lives in jeopardy, so kindly be quiet."

"_My _ignorance? I don't get the reason for your prank, maybe you actually think it's funny, but it's _you _who's risking innocent lives with it."

They glared at each other until the English kid said, "The elf ain't a prop. You saw it speak."

"I've seen ventriloquist dummies speak too and they're just props!"

"That's not the sound argument you think it is," Xander said, with an oddly nostalgic smile.

"You saw it _run_," Craig continued.

"Yes, but . . ." He _had_ seen it run, but not up close. "Wires," he stated, sure of himself, because what other explanation could there be?

"We don't have time for this," Giles snapped and turned away from him.

Ha, the old boy didn't like being found out, did he? Hardly surprising considering this _trick _boiled down to 'subverting the course of justice' whether they even realised it or not.

"I've been where you are," Xander suddenly said, sympathy oozing from his voice and irritating Alex to no end. "My first experience was vampires, so you kind of have it easy, but I get that it probably doesn't feel like it to you."

What the . . .? Vampires? He didn't even know what Xander was trying to pull now, but they didn't know when they were beat. He'd sussed out their stupid game, but they were clearly going to be sore losers about the whole thing. He felt betrayed, he'd thought Xander was his friend, and a good friend too even though they'd only known each other a few months, but obviously he was no better than the others.

"But here, maybe this will help."

Xander handed him the elf and he took it because, well because he was curious maybe. It had seemed almost alive while it was being interrogated but now it hung as limply from his hand as it had been from Xander's. Alex gave it a few prods but it remained as silent and as inanimate as he'd expected.

"And just what was that supposed to prove?" he asked, dropping it to the snow in disgust.

"Yeah, what was that supposed to prove?" Dawn asked through the phone. "What did you give him?"

"An elf," Andrew said helpfully.

"You caught an elf?" came Dawn's excited reply.

"No, they gave me a _toy_!" Alex said angrily.

"And where is that toy now, Deputy Sheriff?" Giles asked.

He looked down and sure enough it was gone. "You made Willow disappear, I'm sure you can make that thing go too."

"Doesn't it strike you as strange, Al? That we _made _Willow disappear?"

He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out, because he still hadn't worked that one out at all.

"Lat ma aat heem!"

He didn't see where the voice came from but suddenly Robin was holding the little purple doll out on his hand. Alex picked it up, gingerly because it really was a weird, freaky little thing. It was warm to the touch, unlike the elf, and he nearly dropped it when it wriggled in his hand. But you could buy mechanical puppies that wriggled in your hand too so he wasn't really concerned . . .

Until it leapt from his loose grasp and caught hold of his thick jacket. He went cross-eyed trying to look down at it as it climbed up hand over hand, and then before he knew it, it had a firm grip on his newly grown beard and was using his bottom lip as a foothold.

"Thenk A'm a fegment o' yaw emagaanation, do yow?" The purple thing said unintelligibly. "Yow rud, ansensitave Biggar!"

He barely had time to think _'What the hell?' _before the thing _headbutted _him right between the eyes.

He was vaguely aware of Xander breaking his fall to the snow before everything went black.

* * *

_Now . . ._

The bar was warm and cosy, perfect after so long out in the cold, and Faith stripped layers like she was in her own living room, going all the way down to her wifebeater before stretching her arms high over her head, smirking as Buffy watched the lithe movement appreciatively.

"See something you like?" she asked as she dropped down into a comfortable arm chair in a quiet corner.

Buffy blinked out of her perving, but wasn't fazed about being caught out. "Sure, that's a nice vest thingy. Where did you buy it? I wish I'd asked for some for Christmas."

Faith gave her a '_seriously?' _look, and Buffy just shrugged with a too-innocent smile.

"Sorry, B, prison issue."

That wiped the smile clean away. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . ."

Faith laughed at her, "I'm lying, I bought a pack of them at Target a few weeks ago. You need to lighten up about my state-paid vacation, B. I did a crime, I did my time, no need to turn it into a mini-drama every time it's brought up."

"I know that. And I am light about it," she lied awkwardly. "I just didn't want you to think I was making a snide remark about it, just then, because I really wasn't."

Faith shrugged easily. "I know. I can tell when you're trying and when you ain't. So, you ready to get our drink on, because I know I am."

"Yes please."

Laughing lightly again, it was a nice change of pace having B eager to please, she raised a hand above her head again, this time to signal Greg over.

It wasn't as busy as the night before but he still took his time getting to them. Buffy sat forward to remove a couple thousand layers of her own clothes, but she was still wearing more than Faith when she was done, and Faith lounged back, idly listening to the couples around them complaining about the shitty Santa grotto – apparently the hired Santa Claus had quit before any of the kids had had a chance to see him, go figure. There was talk of people demanding their money back; if there was any justice in the world, Faith figured the money should all come to them for saving their whiny brats from making the 'nice' list.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies," Greg was in full-on employee of the month mode again, but he broke the act just long enough to give Faith a wink. "What can I get you from the bar this evening."

"I'll have a white wine and soda . . ."

Screw that! Buffy had said they could get drunk, and that was her territory. "Eight shots of, no wait, we have a tab, yeah?"

"It goes on your room account, yes."

"Then make it _sixteen_ shots of that spiced rum you introduced me to last night and four beers." Giles could afford it, or the Council could anyway, and with her shoulder and neck still feeling beaten to crap they deserved a little bonus for getting the job done. "B can still have her wine too if she wants."

Buffy was already looking a little pale over the drinks order and hastily shook her head, "No, that's okay. I think wine on top would put me into stomach-pumping territory."

Even Greg looked kinda worried. "Are you sure you want _sixteen_? They can be a little . . ."

"It's Christmas, dude, and you're not my mother – actually _my_ mother would probably think I was being a pussy just drinking eight – I also ain't a mother, meaning I got nothing special to get up for in the morning, so how about you get our drinks and leave _me_ to worry about my hangover."

Greg nodded and left the table.

"What about _my _hangover?" Buffy muttered.

"Like I said, we can sleep in late as we want."

Buffy carefully folded her coat in her lap; Faith knew what was coming, the gist anyway, but kept her weary sigh to herself. If she let it, this could easily turn into another spat, but maybe if she refused to get sucked into it it would pass without either of them getting pissed off with each other.

"But it's Christmas. Don't you want to wake up early like you did when you were a little kid? You know, get a head start on all the festive-y magic of the day?" Faith gave a blank look. "_You know_, that feeling when you jump out of bed and race downstairs to open all your presents and eat too much chocolate and watch seasonally appropriate cartoons and sing songs around the tree . . . _What?_"

"I don't even believe _you _did all that, so I don't know why in hell you think I did."

"But I _did_ do all that. Until my parents divorced anyway. Christmases in Sunnydale were more about keeping the monsters from breaking the tree ornaments and, you know, keeping my boyfriends from going crazy and walking into the sun, but Mom still always made an effort with the turkey and the presents and the singing."

Faith let out that sigh now because Buffy just didn't get it. She was looking at her so expectantly, waiting to hear some of Faith's happy holiday memories. Well, fine, she could probably dig up a few – she didn't want to make Buffy feel bad.

"One year my mom got sober for four months, she got a job at a toy factory, no really." She remembered the build up to Christmas that year, the promise of every toy she wanted heavy in the air. "She lost it a couple weeks before, not her fault, the holidays ain't a good time to stay on the wagon, ya know? Can be depressing and shit. She made good on her promises though. I got like a dozen presents that year."

She'd only found out a few days later, when each and every one had broken in some way, that her mom had stolen them out of the rejects skip behind the factory, but she didn't tell Buffy that part.

"And another year my school did carolling. We sang at churches and community centres all over Southie. We were pretty good. So good some important dude heard us at his church and arranged for us to sing at this outside event he was putting on. I sang in front of five hundred people.

"It snowed hard that night, though, and we didn't have enough for decent winter clothes. I got a little sick and spent four nights over Christmas in hospital."

"That's horrible! Was your mom allowed to stay with you?"

"Nah, she never even knew I was there. She just thought I'd run away again."

Buffy's face fell. She probably should have kept that part to herself too. Their drinks arrived then and Faith pushed a shot into her hand as a distraction.

"Take your medicine, B."

She did, fast, and then pulled the weirdest damn face afterwards and made the kind of noise that proved it had hit all the right places going down. Faith downed two, just as fast, and wiped a hand across her mouth before taking a sip of her beer.

"Christmas wasn't all that festive in my house," she shrugged. "No big deal. Come on, have another."

Buffy did, and then gurgled out, "That's horrible," again. It was hard to tell if she was talking about the rum or Faith's childhood. "Christmas is supposed to be about family."

"I spent the last few in prison. This year I'm just happy to be out, to have all this alcohol to drink, to have an uninterrupted lie-in tomorrow morning and to have you around to do it all with."

Buffy melted, her smile giddy and beautiful – she was already drunk! Then again, she must be feeling pretty tipsy too to have said all that in the first place.

"We'll sleep late," Buffy promised, and eying the next shot Faith was passing her, added, "Not that I think I could do anything but after all of these." She swallowed, then 'yerghed' with a cute little shudder. "And then we'll open our presents . . ." Faith had already handed her another shot but it stalled halfway to her mouth and went back to the table again. "Except we don't _have _any presents here! I did buy you some, I swear, but I left them at home . . . well, back at the ranch anyway. With the way you were acting before we left, I came to the conclusion you didn't deserve them. Sorry."

Faith lifted one shoulder carelessly. "No big deal, I didn't bring yours either," she lied.

"Ooh, you got me a present? What is it?"

"You'll have to wait until we get back now to find out."

"But that's two whole days away!" Buffy took shot number four self-pityingly. "I can't believe I have to wait that long for all of my presents. This Christmas sucks!"

Faith felt anger flare in her, because thanks a fucking lot. Wasn't just being with her _enough_, because it was for her. All of their crap aside, this was already the best Christmas Faith could ever imagine having.

"I thought Christmas was about _family_?"

Buffy looked up sharply, well not that sharply because her movements were already getting kinda uncoordinated with the rum in her system. "It _is_! But I'm not going to be with my family either, am I? Except you."

That was almost enough to make her lose it, the hurt-fuelled rage was already bitter on the tip of her tongue. She was just never going to be good enough for Princess fuckin' Buffy was she?

And then, as Buffy drank her fifth shot without any encouragement, her mood turned in an instant. "Not that that's all bad. Alone time is good. We need alone time. And now we can have alone time with a Jacuzzi, and there's _nothing_ bad about that scenario." Faith relaxed a little as Buffy stared despondently into number six. "I just wish, just a little, that our much-needed and _wanted _alone time wasn't happening right over Christmas."

She drank, she 'yerghed', she burped and looked shocked by it.

Faith laughed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe you should slow down a little."

"And maybe you should speed up a little. You're four behind!" Buffy blinked a few times. "Oh this can't be good, I'm drinking you, _Faith,_ under the table."

"You wish."

"Still, I should . . ." she didn't elaborate, just pulled her phone from her coat pocket and fiddled with it, staring at it hard like she'd never used it before.

Faith took the downtime to catch up a little. Letting two more rums work their way down inside her, warming her insides deliciously.

"Oh my, fuck!"

Yep, B was drunk.

"What's up?"

"I have, like, nineteen missed calls and seven text messages!"

She remembered the cell ringing a few times when they were in the grotto, but _nineteen_? Jesus!

"Who are they all from?"

Buffy was already trying to work that out; it was taking her longer than usual. Faith finished one of her beers and was taking a sip from her second before she got an answer.

"Ten calls from Giles, four from Dawn, three from the house phone and one from Willow! I have, like, a thousand voicemails! Check yours."

If everyone had been calling Buffy she didn't know why they'd call her, but she checked anyway. "Five from Robin, one from Xander, two from an unknown number and three from . . . Kennedy? What the fuck? Why is _she _calling me?"

Buffy looked up, eyes hurt and confused. "Why _is _Kennedy calling _you_?"

"Jealous, B?"

She huffed and paid attention back to her own phone, pressing buttons for her voicemail. She pulled it away from her ear after a minute. "The first two are just Giles shouting at me to phone him. This'll go quicker if I just call them all back."

Faith's first voicemail had been Robin saying the same thing, so she gave up even quicker. She was more interested in why Kennedy had called anyway. They still weren't anything like friends, although they did tolerate each other better now, ever since the incident with those lizard demons. Kennedy and Willow were in New York though, nowhere near whatever was going down in Boudenver to make everyone phone-crazy, but it was unlikely she was just calling to wish her a Merry Christmas.

She didn't call her back; she wasn't wasting her credit, even if she wasn't the one who paid for it. If it was that important Kennedy could call again.


End file.
